Biologically inspired ultrathin arrayed camera

Abstract

Natural vision systems such as compound eyes provide intriguing design inspiration for miniaturized imaging systems. The compound eyes have further features such as wide field of view, low aberration, large depth-of-field (DOF) and high motion sensitivity. Despite its great advantages, improving the resolution of cameras inspired by the vision system of insect is still challenging. This study presents an ultrathin arrayed camera inspired by Xenos peckii, a strepsiptera species, for high resolution imaging and its various applications. High resolution imaging is demonstrated through the ultrathin camera with micro-optical elements (MOE) consisting of inverted microlens arrays (iMLAs) and multilayered aperture arrays (MAAs), and this camera also demonstrates multi-view plane, near-infrared, and dental imaging. The proposed biologically inspired ultrathin arrayed camera offers new and practical directions for in the field of biomedical, mobile and surveillance.