A new generation of lens has been created by engineers at the Duke University. These lenses hold the potential of improving the capabilities of radar or telecommunication system in terms of greater details.

The lens has the appearance of a miniature set of tan Venetian blinds.

From Sciencedaily.com:

“We’ve come up with what is in essence GRIN on steroids,” said Smith, whose team used similar metamaterials to create one of the first “cloaking” devices in 2006. “This first in a new class of lenses offers tantalizing possibilities and opens a whole new application for metamaterials.

“While these experiments were conducted in two dimensions, the design should provide a good initial step in developing a three-dimensional lens,” Smith said. “The properties of the metamaterials we used should also make it possible to use infrared and optical frequencies.”

The researchers say a single metamaterial lens could replace traditional optical systems requiring vast arrays of lenses and provide clearer images. They could also be used in large-scale systems such as radar arrays to better direct beams, a task not possible for traditional lenses, which would need to be too large to be practical.

The research was supported by the Army Research Office’s Multiple University Research Initiative (MURI).