Presentation
Large-Area Fabrication-aware Computational Diffractive Optics
DescriptionDifferentiable optics, as an emerging paradigm that jointly optimizes
optics and (optional) image processing algorithms, has made many
innovative optical designs possible across a broad range of imaging and display
applications. Many of these systems utilize diffractive optical
components for holography, PSF engineering, or wavefront
shaping. Existing approaches have, however, mostly remained limited to laboratory prototypes, owing to a large quality gap between simulation and manufactured devices.
As such, we aim at lifting the fundamental technical barriers to the practical use of learned diffractive optical systems. To this end, we propose a
fabrication-aware design pipeline for diffractive optics fabricated by
direct-write grayscale lithography followed by replication with
nano-imprinting, which is directly suited for inexpensive
mass-production of large area designs. We propose a super-resolved
neural lithography model that can accurately predict the 3D geometry
generated by the fabrication process. This model can be seamlessly
integrated into existing differentiable optics frameworks, enabling
fabrication-aware, end-to-end optimization of computational optical
systems across a wide range of applications.
To tackle the computational challenges of such large-scale
inverse designs at high resolution, especially the high memory consumption, we
also devise tensor-parallel compute framework centered on distributing
large-scale FFT computation across many GPUs.
Using this combination of methods, we demonstrate large scale
diffractive optics designs up to 32.16\,mm $\times$ 21.44\,mm, simulated on
grids of up to 128,640 by 85,760 feature points. We find adequate agreement
between simulation and fabricated prototypes for applications such as
holography and PSF engineering. We also achieve high image
quality from an imaging system comprised only of a single diffractive
optical element, with images processed only by a one-step inverse filter utilizing
the simulation PSF. We believe our findings lift the fabrication limitations for real-world applications of diffractive optics and differentiable optical design.
optics and (optional) image processing algorithms, has made many
innovative optical designs possible across a broad range of imaging and display
applications. Many of these systems utilize diffractive optical
components for holography, PSF engineering, or wavefront
shaping. Existing approaches have, however, mostly remained limited to laboratory prototypes, owing to a large quality gap between simulation and manufactured devices.
As such, we aim at lifting the fundamental technical barriers to the practical use of learned diffractive optical systems. To this end, we propose a
fabrication-aware design pipeline for diffractive optics fabricated by
direct-write grayscale lithography followed by replication with
nano-imprinting, which is directly suited for inexpensive
mass-production of large area designs. We propose a super-resolved
neural lithography model that can accurately predict the 3D geometry
generated by the fabrication process. This model can be seamlessly
integrated into existing differentiable optics frameworks, enabling
fabrication-aware, end-to-end optimization of computational optical
systems across a wide range of applications.
To tackle the computational challenges of such large-scale
inverse designs at high resolution, especially the high memory consumption, we
also devise tensor-parallel compute framework centered on distributing
large-scale FFT computation across many GPUs.
Using this combination of methods, we demonstrate large scale
diffractive optics designs up to 32.16\,mm $\times$ 21.44\,mm, simulated on
grids of up to 128,640 by 85,760 feature points. We find adequate agreement
between simulation and fabricated prototypes for applications such as
holography and PSF engineering. We also achieve high image
quality from an imaging system comprised only of a single diffractive
optical element, with images processed only by a one-step inverse filter utilizing
the simulation PSF. We believe our findings lift the fabrication limitations for real-world applications of diffractive optics and differentiable optical design.
Authors
Event Type
Technical Papers
TimeWednesday, 17 December 202511:24am - 11:35am HKT
LocationMeeting Room S421, Level 4