New Microlens Array Enables Very Flat Wide-Angle Cameras

Less Than 1 mm Height New Microlens Array Enables Very Flat Wide-Angle Cameras

2026-04-13 From | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

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Researchers have developed a wide-angle camera that offers a field of view of 140 degrees with a thickness of less than 1 mm (0.04 inches) and no protruding lenses. The technology is about to be commercialized.

Using a special microlens array, Korean researchers have developed a wide-angle camera that is less than 1 mm (0.04 inches) thick and offers a field of view of 140 degrees.(Image: freely licensed / Pexels) — Using a special microlens array, Korean researchers have developed a wide-angle camera that is less than 1 mm (0.04 inches) thick and offers a field of view of 140 degrees.
(Image: freely licensed / Pexels)

The thinner smartphones and wearables become, the more annoying the camera hump, also known as lens protrusion, becomes. High-resolution wide-angle cameras usually require several stacked lenses, which inevitably leads to greater depth. A research team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) led by Professors Ki-Hun Jeong and Min H. Kim has now found a way around this optical bottleneck.

The result, which was recently presented in the journal Nature Communications, is a camera module with a height of exactly 0.94 mm (0.04 inches). Despite this extremely compact form factor, the system achieves a diagonal field of view (FOV) of 140 degrees and thus even surpasses human peripheral vision.

Microlens Array Instead of Lens Stack

Principle sketch of the biomimetic camera structure and macro images of the manufactured, ultra-flat camera module.(Image: Nature Communications / DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-70967-2) — Principle sketch of the biomimetic camera structure and macro images of the manufactured, ultra-flat camera module.
(Image: Nature Communications / DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-70967-2)

Instead of solving the problem with conventional, stacked individual lenses, the developers opted for a biomimetic approach inspired by the visual system of the insect Xenos peckii. While typical insect compound eyes offer a large field of vision but low resolution, this parasite has a structure in which several eyes each capture only partial segments of a scene. The brain then combines these into a high-resolution overall image.

The KAIST researchers transferred this principle to the hardware architecture: they developed an array of several ellipsoid-shaped microlenses. Each of these microlenses captures a different direction at the same time. The partial images are then combined by software (computational imaging) to form a single, sharp image without optical aberrations. This split-capture and integration approach makes it possible to overcome the low resolution of conventional facet cameras and the limited fields of view of individual lens systems at the same time.

Sharp Edges, Focus at Extremely Close Range

One of the biggest challenges with wide-angle lenses in miniature format is the blurring at the edges of the image. By precisely adjusting the lens shape and the light entry points, the team was able to eliminate this problem. According to the researchers, the system maintains a uniform sharpness from the center of the image to the periphery. Initial tests showed stable and detailed images even at extremely close range, for example with microfluidic channels (20 mm or 0.79 inches distance), oral models (30 mm or 1.18 inches) and human faces (50 mm or 1.97 inches).

Market Readiness As Early As Next Year

"Previous wide-angle cameras were always faced with a compromise: reducing the size reduced the resolution, increasing the resolution increased the size of the component," explains Prof. Ki-Hun Jeong. The new architecture will provide developers with an image capture method for extremely space-constrained environments.

The sensor opens up new design possibilities, particularly for use in medical technology, such as for high-resolution endoscopes, in micro-robots or compact wearables in the healthcare sector. The team's next step shows that this is not just pure basic research: the technology has already been transferred to optoelectronics specialist MicroPix Co, Ltd. Full commercialization and series production of the ultra-flat cameras is planned for next year. (heh)

The surroundings in view at all times: Thanks to the very thin heating element, which is integrated directly into the internal lens design, this is possible. The advantages are the smaller space requirement with higher efficiency. (Image:VIA optronics)

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