We propose a wide field-of-view (FOV) refractive and meta-optics hybrid imaging system designed for the mid-wave infrared spectrum (3–5 μm) to address the challenge of high-quality imaging in wide FOV applications. The system consists of only three refractive lenses and two metasurfaces (one functioning as a circular polarizer and the other as a phase element), with a total length of 29 mm. Through a detailed analysis of modulation transfer function curves and spot diagrams, the system achieves 178° FOV while maintaining exceptional imaging performance across a temperature range of −40 °C to 60 °C. The system demonstrates the potential for extending applications to other wavelengths and scenarios, thereby contributing to the advancement of high-performance compact optical systems.

In recent years, the super-oscillation method based on the fine interference of optical fields has been successfully applied to sub-diffraction focusing and super-resolution imaging. However, most previously reported works only describe static super-oscillatory lenses. Super-oscillatory lenses using phase-change materials still have issues regarding dynamic tunability and inflexibility. Therefore, it is vital to develop a flexible and tunable modulation approach for super-oscillatory lenses. In this paper, we propose a super-oscillatory step-zoom lens based on the geometric phase principle, which can switch between two focal lengths within a certain field of view. The designed device consists of nanopillars with high efficiency of up to 80%, and the super-resolution focusing with 0.84 times of diffraction limit is verified by the full-wave simulation. The proposed method bears the potential to become a useful tool for label-free super-resolution microscopic imaging and optical precision machining.

This paper proposes a broadband and high-efficiency anomalous reflection device based on a dielectric catenary metasurface, addressing the bottleneck problems of low efficiency and narrow bandwidth in traditional discrete metasurfaces. By designing a silicon-based equal-strength catenary structure, the efficient control of circularly polarized light beams within a wide angular range in the infrared band has been achieved. Simulation results show that the designed metasurface exhibits excellent beam steering performance when the deflection angle reaches 65°. Furthermore, to characterize the diffraction efficiency of the metasurface within a large angular range, the results indicate that under oblique incidence (0–60°), the diffraction efficiency of the ±1st order exceeds 80%, and the undesired higher-order diffractions are significantly suppressed. This ultrahigh working efficiency is attributed to the nearly perfect polarization conversion and continuous phase profile of the dielectric catenary structure. By combining catenary optics with the low-loss properties of the dielectric material, this design provides a new solution for the design of efficient, broadband, and wide-angle planar optical devices.

Cylindrical surfaces with complex parameters (CSCP), including off-axis, aspheric, and other properties, constitute fundamental components within complex optical systems. Two-dimensional pseudo lateral shearing interferometry (2DPLSI) is a non-null and generalized method for CSCP. It can eliminate wavefront error of components within systematic and retrace error, thereby achieving high-precision measurement. However, the accuracy of measurement is influenced by factors such as the parameters of the measurement system, rendering the analysis of measurement precision of 2DPLSI to be important. The sources of error in 2DPLSI are discussed in this paper; their effects are simulated using the Monte Carlo (MC) method. Furthermore, a wavefront construction method based on power spectral density (PSD) is proposed, which simulates actual wavefronts more effectively. In addition, experiments are conducted to validate the optimized measurement system parameters derived from the simulation results. Experimental results show that the optimized measurement system parameters effectively improve measurement accuracy, retain low-mid spatial frequency information of wavefront, and eliminate the influence of gridding artifacts.

We present a compact hybrid imaging system operating in the 3–5 μm spectral band that combines refractive optics with a dispersion-engineered metasurface to overcome the longstanding trade-off between wide field of view (FOV), system size, and thermal stability. The system achieves an ultra-wide 178° FOV within a total track length of only 28.25 mm, employing just three refractive lenses and one metasurface. Through co-optimization of material selection and system architecture, it maintains the modulation transfer function (MTF) exceeding 0.54 at 33 lp/mm and the geometric (GEO) radius below 15 μm across an extended operational temperature range from –40 °C to 60 °C. The metasurface is designed using a propagation phase approach with cylindrical unit cells to ensure polarization-insensitive behavior, and its broadband dispersion-free phase profile is optimized via a particle swarm algorithm. The results indicate that phase-matching errors remain small at all wavelengths, with a mean value of 0.11068. This design provides an environmentally resilient solution for lightweight applications, including automotive infrared night vision and unmanned aerial vehicle remote sensing.