【Hizoban Higasa no onna】

Harvard researchers have Hizoban Higasa no onnadeveloped a novel, flat lens they say can focus "all the colors of the rainbow." This is a significant departure from the camera lenses made today, which are curved, bulkier, and take up more space.

But there's a catch: The researchers successfully focused light with this lens, which they call a "metalens," but on an extremely small, nanoparticle scale (nanoparticles can be thousands of times thinner than a human hair). While an impressive feat, major tech companies like Apple and Samsung aren't anywhere close to putting this technology into forthcoming phones and cameras.

SEE ALSO: This two-story camera will bring us one step closer to understanding the universe

This laboratory research was published on Monday in the journalNature Nanotechnology, and might one day allow cameras, phones, and VR headsets to incorporate larger lenses that take up less space. This could allow for devices to exploit this added room for other purposes -- like hardware and batteries -- or add larger lenses without requiring a larger, heavier device.

Some forms of visible light have long wavelengths (red) and other much shorter (blue). So to capture all these colors at once, cameras today use curved lenses to focus all the incoming light simultaneously to capture an image. This precise process has served us well for over a century, but these lenses inherently take up more space.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

“Metalenses have advantages over traditional lenses,” Harvard physicist Federico Capasso, the study's senior author, said in a statement. “Metalenses are thin, easy to fabricate, and cost-effective. This breakthrough extends those advantages across the whole visible range of light. This is the next big step.”

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

These minuscule metalenses contain even smaller "nanofins," structures that control the speed of the different types of light as they enter the essentially flat lens.

In a statement, Harvard said they "licensed" this lens innovation "to a startup for commercial development." And back in their Harvard lab the researchers plan to do more work, scaling up their nanoparticle lens to something exponentially larger at one centimeter in diameter.

For now, this metalens may only exist in a microscopic world, but the researchers envision bigger things in the years ahead -- though how long remains uncertain.

"This brings us one step closer to the goal of incorporating them into common optical devices such as cameras,” said study co-author Alexander Zhu.

---

Featured Video For You

---

These beautiful snowflake photos were actually captured using a microscope

---

Topics Cameras Innovations

• Deals
• Entertainment
• Life
• Shopping
• Tech
• Science
• Games
• Social Good

• The Mismeasure of Media
• Tesla called out for sneaky math on Model 3 pricing
• The CDC has advice for e
• U.S. women's soccer team sues for equal treatment
• Testing Windows 10 Performance Before and After the Meltdown Flaw Emergency Patch
• Airbnb files lawsuit against New York
• Co–Star's push notifications: Here's why they're so wild
• 'Be More Chill' review: It's sexist, reductive and teens are obsessed
• Today's Hurdle hints and answers for April 7, 2025
• Uber looks into solution regarding drivers reportedly gaming for cancellation fees

• What is Paramount+? Everything to know about the new streaming service.
• Netflix's 'Firefly Lane' buckles under baffling creative choices
• Charging your EV at home is super slow. That's finally changing.
• A wily fox pulls off the perfect pizza heist
• Chuck Todd wants to know when we can talk about gun violence solutions
• Democrats' proposed Section 230 reform may not be as helpful as it looks
• Grandma accidentally buys a super NSFW book for her granddaughter and it's hilarious
• Sorry Kris, but Lebron James is not a fan of 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians'
• Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg creates scholarship to honor late husband
• Kim Kardashian just posted the greatest Instagram caption of all time

• Best iPad deal: Save $100 on 13
• Philadelphia just banned cashless stores. Good.
• Your social media photos could be training facial recognition AI without your consent
• The eviction of a refugee camp is being live streamed on Facebook
• Japan orders Google to stop alleged antitrust violations
• Dark mode for Google Chrome is finally out on Mac
• 'Game of Thrones' SXSW activation invites fans to bleed for the throne
• Elon Musk slams SEC 'overreach,' says he cut his Tesla
• Best iPad deal: Save $132 on Apple iPad (10th Gen)
• 'Grown

• SpaceX's BFR has a new name. Elon Musk is calling it Starship.
• Huawei caught using stock images to promote smartphone's camera
• Geoengineering might be a viable climate cure after all, research says
• Hillary Clinton's excited face is every Chicago Cubs fan right now
• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for April 23: Tips to solve Connections #212
• Mark Zuckerberg's former mentor says privacy manifesto is a PR stunt
• The 'Dark Knight' trilogy returns to theaters for a 70mm IMAX tour
• Is Airbnb the reason renters can't find an affordable place to live in Sydney?
• The Made in America iPhone: How much would it cost?
• Tesla hides hilarious secret message inside of Model Y invitations