Engineers have created an innovative flat lens that enhances telescopes’ ability to capture color while detecting light from far-off stars.
For centuries, telescope lenses have used curved glass or plastic to bend light and detect images. While effective, stronger lenses require more bulk, making them heavier and harder to use. This limitation is especially problematic for space telescopes, where a telescope lens needs to detect light from distant galaxies while remaining lightweight and efficient.
Researchers at the University of Utah have developed a flat lens that could revolutionize astrophotography and telescope imaging. The study, led by engineering professor Rajesh Menon and his team, introduces a polymer-based lens that matches the performance of traditional curved lenses while maintaining color accuracy.
The findings, published in Applied Physics Letters, suggest that this innovation could significantly improve imaging systems in space-based telescopes, aircraft and satellites.
Weight problem in telescope lens
Traditional lenses bend light to magnify objects, but stronger magnification requires thicker glass. For everyday cameras and backyard telescopes, this added weight is manageable. However, space telescopes must capture light from galaxies millions of light-years away, demanding high-powered lenses that are often too heavy for practical use.
To address this challenge, observatories rely on massive curved mirrors instead. These mirrors can bend light while remaining lighter than bulky lenses.
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— John and Marcia Price College of Engineering (@UtahCoE) February 25, 2025
Scientists have also explored alternative lens designs, such as Fresnel zone plates (FZPs), which use concentric ridges to focus light. While FZPs offer a thinner and lighter alternative, they introduce color distortions because different wavelengths bend at varying angles.
Use of flat lens to maintain true color accuracy
Menon’s team has overcome this issue with a novel flat lens that maintains both sharp focus and true color accuracy. The innovation comes from microscopic concentric rings etched onto the lens surface. Unlike FZPs, which struggle with color fidelity, the precise spacing of these rings ensures that all wavelengths of light converge properly, producing clear and undistorted images.
“Simulating the performance of these lenses over a very large bandwidth, from visible to near-infrared, involved solving complex computational problems involving very large datasets,” said Apratim Majumder, the study’s lead researcher and a research assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering.
Once the design was optimized, manufacturing the lens required highly controlled conditions to ensure accuracy. The researchers used the advanced fabrication resources at Utah Nanofab to produce the final prototype.
This new lens could have wide-ranging applications, but its most immediate impact is in astronomy. To test its capabilities, the team captured images of the sun and moon, demonstrating the lens’s ability to maintain color accuracy while focusing light effectively.
“Our demonstration is a stepping stone towards creating very large aperture lightweight flat lenses with the capability of capturing full-color images for use in air-and-space-based telescopes,” Majumder said.
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