Cost-Effective and Environmentally Friendly Mass Manufacturing of Optical Metasurfaces Towards Practical Applications and Commercialization
Junhwa Seong, Youngsun Jeon, Younghwan Yang, Trevon Badloe, Junsuk Rho
Abstract
Abstract Optical metasurfaces consisting of two-dimensional nanostructures have rapidly developed over the past two decades thanks to their potential for use as optical components, such as metalenses or metaholograms, with ultra-compact form factors. Despite these rapid developments, major challenges for the commercialization of metasurfaces still remain: namely their mass production and use in real-life devices. A lot of effort has been made to overcome the limitations of electron beam lithography which is commonly used to fabricate metasurfaces. However, a breakthrough in mass production is still required to bring the cost of metasurfaces down into the price range of conventional optics. This review covers deep-ultraviolet lithography, nanoimprint lithography, and self-assembly-based fabrication processes that have the potential for the mass production of both cost-effective and environmentally friendly metasurfaces. We then discuss metalenses and future displays/sensors that are expected to take advantage of these mass-produced metasurfaces. The potential applications of mass-produced optical metasurfaces will open a new realm for their practical applications and commercialization.