July 6, 2017 by David Lewis Credit: ACS <\/p>\n
Scientists have created new 2-D nanostructured surfaces which appear as realistic 3-D objects including shading and shadows - using cutting edge nano-engineering. <\/p>\n
The research was carried out by King's College London alongside Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitt Bonn, and is published in the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters. <\/p>\n
When light hits an object, the colour, texture, and shape affect how light is absorbed and reflected, allowing you to make out the object in front of you. By altering the surface to change how light is reflected, it is possible to manipulate how it appears. <\/p>\n
The researchers developed layered materials, incorporating precisely designed nano-features smaller than the wavelength of light, called metasurfaces. This allowed them to control how light is reflected in highly precise ways, so that a 2-D surface reflects light just as a 3-D object would. <\/p>\n
Borrowing a technique from 3-D computer graphics called Normal Mapping, researchers encoded shadow effects into the image, creating 3-D images more realistic than holograms or 3-D cinema. As a proof of concept, the researchers fabricated a flat metasurface imitating lighting and shading effects of a 3-D cube. <\/p>\n
Changing the way we see light <\/p>\n
The technique could have huge implications for the optical industries, including in TV screens and photography, as well as in security labels for protecting goods and banknotes from counterfeiting. <\/p>\n
Professor Anatoly Zayats of King's College says: \"Metasurfaces are amazing. They open up unprecedented freedom in directing and manipulating light. One might ultimately imagine a TV screen which appears exactly the same as you move around it, or a new movement of 3-D art.\" <\/p>\n
The ability to control light could bring new functionality to small camera lenses. A flat surface can be made to appear optically convex by designing appropriate metasurface properties. Future generations of smartphone cameras could use the tiny flat metasurfaces which mimic the properties of sophisticated curved camera lenses, allowing much greater control of angle and depth field. <\/p>\n
Metasurfaces could also replace heavy optical lenses in applications such as satellites, where weight and size have a big impact on efficiency. <\/p>\n
More immediately, the novel nano-materials can already be used to create unique complex 3-D images for security and anti-counterfeiting applications, as well as for new measurement applications requiring precise control of light. <\/p>\n
Much more than a hologram <\/p>\n
Unlike holograms, which require a coherent light source such as a laser to be viewed, these surfaces manipulate the reflection of normal light so they appear as a realistic 3-D object in any light condition and from any angle. <\/p>\n
Existing holographic approaches rely on 'specular reection' ie the light coming from a particular direction is reflected in a unique outgoing direction, as with a mirror. In order to achieve dynamic light shading eects, a metasurface design involves 'diuse reection' which allows control of its scattering properties so that the image can be seen directly on it. <\/p>\n
For the proof of concept, the researchers designed a cube using the normal mapping technique, which was encoded into the metasurface. When illuminated, the metasurface instantaneously \"computes\" how a 3-D representation of the image should look and displays it. <\/p>\n
Dr Alexander Minovich, The Royal Society Newton International Fellow at King's College London, said: \"The normal mapping demonstrated with our metasurface is a completely new concept, but it could have very important implications for a wide range of optical industries, both in introducing new functionality and making products smaller and lighter.\" <\/p>\n
Explore further: Electrically tunable metasurfaces pave the way toward dynamic holograms <\/p>\n
More information: Alexander E. Minovich et al. Reflective Metasurfaces for Incoherent Light To Bring Computer Graphics Tricks to Optical Systems, Nano Letters (2017). DOI: 10.1021\/acs.nanolett.7b01003<\/p>\n
Journal reference: Nano Letters <\/p>\n
Provided by: King's College London <\/p>\n
(Phys.org)Dynamic holograms allow three-dimensional images to change over time like a movie, but so far these holograms are still being developed. The development of dynamic holograms may now get a boost from recent research ... <\/p>\n
Not far from where Edwin Landthe inventor of the Polaroid cameramade his pioneering discoveries about polarized light, researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) are ... <\/p>\n
Engineers at Caltech have developed a system of flat optical lenses that can be easily mass-produced and integrated with image sensors, paving the way for cheaper and lighter cameras in everything from cell phones to medical ... <\/p>\n
Artificially engineered materials called metamaterials can be used to manipulate light for a range of applications, but often require complicated three-dimensional structures with features as small as a few tens of nanometers. ... <\/p>\n
Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology are creating a new approach to reconstruct 3-D full-color holographic images by using just one layer of nanoscale metallic film. This work has a huge potential ... <\/p>\n
(Phys.org)By carefully arranging many nanoblocks to form pixels on a metasurface, researchers have demonstrated that they can manipulate incoming visible light in just the right way to create a color \"meta-hologram.\" The ... <\/p>\n
Early phase Northwestern Medicine research has demonstrated a potential new therapeutic strategy for treating deadly glioblastoma brain tumors. <\/p>\n
To enhance the visibility of organs as they are scanned with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), patients are usually injected with a compound known as a contrast agent before going into the scanner. The most commonly used ... <\/p>\n
From checkout counters at supermarkets to light shows at concerts, lasers are everywhere, and they're a much more efficient light source than incandescent bulbs. But they're not cheap to produce. <\/p>\n
A world-first non-destructive quality control method from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has enabled Oxford Instruments to commercialise wafer-scale fabrication technology for 2-D material MoS2. <\/p>\n
Although scientists have for decades been able to synthesize nanoparticles in the lab, the process is mostly trial and error, and how the formation actually takes place is obscure. However, a study recently published in Nature ... <\/p>\n
In today's increasingly powerful electronics, tiny materials are a must as manufacturers seek to increase performance without adding bulk. <\/p>\n
Adjust slider to filter visible comments by rank <\/p>\n
Display comments: newest first <\/p>\n
So I guess 3D movies and tv without glasses may be coming soon. <\/p>\n
It could be also utilized for breasts and another organs visual enlargement. I think. <\/p>\n
First they are going to have to make the meta material 'changeable' on the fly, otherwise it will only be useful for still images. <\/p>\n
Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read more here: <\/p>\n
Scientists manipulate light to make flat surfaces appear as 3-D objects - Phys.Org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" July 6, 2017 by David Lewis Credit: ACS Scientists have created new 2-D nanostructured surfaces which appear as realistic 3-D objects including shading and shadows - using cutting edge nano-engineering. The research was carried out by King's College London alongside Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitt Bonn, and is published in the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters. When light hits an object, the colour, texture, and shape affect how light is absorbed and reflected, allowing you to make out the object in front of you Continue reading