# US 11,442,198 B2 · Optical device capable of providing at least two different optical functions > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,442,198 B2 - Document ID: US11442198B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/643,792 - Filed: 2018-08-28 - Published: 2020-07-09 - Granted: 2022-09-13 - Earliest claimed: 2017-09-01 - Assignees: InterDigital CE Patent Holdings, SAS - Applicants: InterDigital CE Patent Holdings, SAS - Inventors: Artem Boriskin; Oksana Shramkova - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11442198B2 ## CPC - G02B 1/002: {made of materials engineered to provide properties not available in nature, e.g. metamaterials} - G02B 3/0037: {characterized by the distribution or form of lenses} - G02B 27/4205: {having a diffractive optical element [DOE] contributing to image formation, e.g. whereby modulation transfer function MTF or optical aberrations are relevant} - G02B 27/0172: {characterised by optical features} - G02B 2207/101: Nanooptics - G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS ## Abstract An optical device forming an outgoing electromagnetic wave from an incident electromagnetic wave comprises at least one unit cell (UC), comprising: at least two subwavelength optical elements (1, 2), each of them belonging to a different set (MSI, MS2) of subwavelength optical elements, a set of subwavelength optical elements being characterized by a type of optical response to an incident electromagnetic wave; means (21) enabling selective excitation of all subwavelength optical elements belonging to a given set, in response to an electromagnetic wave (20) incident on said unit cell. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An optical device forming an outgoing electromagnetic wave from an incident electromagnetic wave, wherein the optical device comprises at least one unit cell (UC; UC1, UC2), said unit cell comprising: at least two subwavelength optical elements (1, 2, . . . , N), each of them belonging to a different set (MS1, MS2, . . . , MSn) of subwavelength optical elements, a set of subwavelength optical elements being characterized by a type of optical response to an incident electromagnetic wave; and a nanojet microlens (21) enabling selective excitation of the subwavelength optical elements belonging to a given set, in response to said electromagnetic wave (20) incident on said unit cell. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The optical device of claim 1, wherein the type of optical response belongs to the group comprising: a phase shift applied to said incident electromagnetic wave and, an amplitude change of at least part of a spectrum of said incident electromagnetic wave. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The optical device of claim 1, wherein said subwavelength optical elements (NP) belong to the group comprising: metallic particles; dielectric particles; semiconductor particles; optical resonators; and optical antennas. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The optical device of claim 1, wherein said subwavelength optical elements are assembled on or inside a dielectric substrate (10). ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The optical device of claim 4, wherein said nanojet microlens is a nanojet microlens embedded in said substrate and made of a dielectric material with refractive index higher than that of said substrate. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The optical device of claim 4, wherein said nanojet microlens is placed at a distance below a surface of said substrate on which said subwavelength optical elements are assembled. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The optical device of claim 4, wherein said substrate comprises at least one cavity filled with a medium with refractive index lower than that of said substrate and wherein said nanojet microlens is formed in the same material as said substrate and has a focusing function enabled by a step of refractive index induced by an edge of said cavity. ### Claim 8 (depends on 4) The optical device of claim 4, wherein said nanojet microlens is attached to a surface of said substrate opposite to a surface of said substrate on which said subwavelength optical elements are assembled, and wherein said optical device comprises a host medium surrounding said nanojet microlens and having a refractive index lower than that of said nanojet microlens. ### Claim 9 (depends on 4) The optical device of claim 4, wherein said nanojet microlens forms said substrate on a surface of which said subwavelength optical elements are assembled. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The optical device of claim 1, wherein the optical device comprises a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array of unit cells. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The optical device of claim 8, wherein said unit cells of said array of unit cells comprise subwavelength optical elements belonging to the same sets of subwavelength optical elements but which are not identical. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The optical device of claim 1, wherein the optical device belongs to an eyewear optical device or a display device. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The optical device of claim 1, wherein said subwavelength optical elements are in a focal plane of said nanojet microlens. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The optical device of claim 1, wherein the nanojet microlens enables selective excitation of all subwavelength optical elements belonging to a given set, in response to said electromagnetic wave incident on said unit cell. ### Claim 15 An apparatus comprising: a plurality of nanojet microlenses; and for each of the nanojet microlenses, at least a first subwavelength optical element and a second subwavelength optical element, the second subwavelength optical element being different from the first subwavelength optical element; wherein the first and second subwavelength optical elements are arranged such that the first subwavelength optical elements are selectively illuminated for a first incident angle of an incident electromagnetic wave and the second subwavelength optical elements are selectively illuminated for a second incident angle of the incident electromagnetic wave. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the plurality of nanoj et microlenses and the first and second subwavelength optical elements are provided on a common substrate. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the second subwavelength optical element differs from the first subwavelength optical element in an amount of phase shift applied to the incident electromagnetic wave. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the second subwavelength optical element differs from the first subwavelength optical element in an amount of amplitude change of at least part of a spectrum of the incident electromagnetic wave. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the first and second subwavelength optical elements comprise nanoparticles. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the first subwavelength optical element comprises a first nanoparticle and the second subwavelength optical element comprises a second nanoparticle having a size different from the first nanoparticle.