Technical Documents

White Paper — Metalens

Metalens Design and Manufacturing

In recent years, metalenses that achieve lens functionality by controlling the phase distribution of transmitted light through the distribution of surface nanostructures have been poised to significantly transform conventional optics. Applications have been proposed and development is advancing across many fields, including smartphones, AR/VR, automotive, medical, optical communications, and more. This article introduces SCIVAX’s metalens design and manufacturing services, leveraging our core optical simulation and microfabrication technologies.

White Paper — Equipment

Nanoimprint System RubiQ®

Many application fields of nanoimprint technology involve cutting-edge research elements while also requiring a seamless transition from development to pilot production to bring products to market quickly. For high-uncertainty R, customers want flexible equipment with a wide range of technical options, while also desiring highly refined equipment that allows development results to directly translate into product manufacturing. To address these concerns of customers engaged in technology development, we introduce the nanoimprint system RubiQ®, developed to cover everything from research and development to pilot production.

White Paper — Sensor

Automotive Applications of Ultra-Wide-Angle Diffusers for 3D-ToF Sensors

3D sensing systems utilizing Time of Flight (ToF) technology measure the distance between a camera and an object based on the time it takes for emitted light to reflect back. These systems offer advantages such as miniaturization, low CPU load, and effective performance in dark environments. Platanus, our diffusive optical element for ToF sensors, controls light distribution to ensure that light from the source is transmitted and projected within the camera's field of view. It features high light utilization efficiency, uniform illumination intensity, and precise distribution control. This report introduces our products that achieve an ultra-wide illumination angle of 140° and their specific applications within the automotive industry.

White Paper — Sensor

Dot Illumination Optical Elements for 3D-ToF Sensors

3D sensing technology captures depth (distance information) as image data. As shown in Figure 1, 3D sensing applications have recently expanded beyond industrial measurement to include high-resolution facial recognition, autonomous driving, and drone-mounted systems. Among 3D sensing methods, Time of Flight (ToF) sensing measures distance by calculating the time delay between emitting light toward an object and receiving the reflected light. The dot illumination optical elements for ToF sensing discussed here are designed to project a dot-patterned light onto a target object. These elements are primarily used for long-range distance detection. This section explains their unique optical performance and applications.

White Paper — Sensor

Diffractive Optical Elements for 3D-TOF Sensors

3D sensing technology captures not only 2D images but also depth (distance information) as image data. In recent years, technology for sensing the distance to objects captured by cameras has expanded beyond traditional industrial measurement. As shown in Figure 1, it is now being widely adopted for consumer applications such as autonomous driving, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in smartphones and gaming devices, and robotic appliances. Among 3D sensing technologies, the method that calculates the distance between the camera and the object based on the time it takes for emitted light to reflect off the target and return is called Time of Flight (TOF) sensing. This technology offers advantages such as system miniaturization, low CPU load during data acquisition, and the ability to operate in dark environments. The diffractive optical element (DOE) for TOF sensing discussed here is an optical component that controls light distribution, ensuring that light emitted from the source and transmitted through the element illuminates the receiving camera's field of view with the desired intensity distribution. Its characteristic optical performance and applications are described below.

White Paper — Bio

Applying Nanoimprint Lithography to Mass Production of NGS (Next Generation Sequencer) Chips

Nanoimprint technology was originally developed about 25 years ago as a fine-patterning technology for semiconductors. From the outset, it attracted attention as a technology capable of resolution at the 10 nm level; however, in recent years, key applications have included optical sensors for mobile devices, autonomous driving, robotics, and security, as well as light guide plates for AR (augmented reality) glasses, and it has been re-evaluated for forming structures such as DOE and MLA at the several-hundred-nanometer to several-micrometer level. The NGS application discussed here is not an optical component; rather, this section explains the application of nanoimprint technology as a mass-production method for manufacturing, in high volume, substrates with fine hole structures in the readout section of DNA testing chips.

White Paper — Other

Wire-grid polarizer using nanoimprint lithography

Nanoimprint technology has attracted attention as a lithography technique that can form patterns at the 10 nm level on the surfaces of a wide range of substrate materials, such as glass and resins, at low cost. In recent years, it has become an essential technology for manufacturing nanophotonic optical devices that require particularly high environmental durability, including mobile devices, displays, autonomous driving, robotics, security, and AR (augmented reality). The wire-grid polarizer discussed here is an inorganic polarizing plate composed of a metal line-and-space pattern of several tens of nanometers formed on a transparent substrate. Its distinctive optical performance and applications are described below.