title: Thin wafer-level camera lenses inspired by insect compound eyes.
abstract: We propose a microoptical approach to ultra-compact optics for real-time vision systems that are inspired by the compound eyes of insects. The demonstrated module achieves approx. VGA resolution with a total track length of 1.4 mm which is about two times shorter than comparable single-aperture optics on images sensors of the same pixel pitch. The partial images that are separately recorded in different optical channels are stitched together to form a final image of the whole field of view by means of image processing. A software correction is applied to each partial image so that the final image is made free of distortion. The microlens arrays are realized by state of the art microoptical fabrication techniques on wafer-level which are suitable for a potential application in high volume e.g. for consumer electronic products.
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering, Albert-Einstein-Str. 7, D-07745 Jena, Germany. andreas.brueckner@iof.fraunhofer.de
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brückner
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Duparré
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leitel
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dannberg
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bräuer
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tünnermann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D054910:Compound Eye, Arthropod / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004581:Electronics; D007089:Image Enhancement; D007909:Lenses; D010781:Photography / Q000295:instrumentation*