Hacker News

Air holes turn silicon wafers into flat UV focusing mirrors for compact optics

58 points by bookofjoe ago | 8 comments

altairprime |next [-]

UV Mie-void reflective metasurfaces in silicon (2026) https://doi.org/10.1117/1.AP.9.1.016002

jacquesm |next |previous [-]

The physics of holes and light are incredibly complex and interesting. Have a look at Optical Sieves if this stuff interests you.

Tarq0n |root |parent [-]

Also waveguides. There's been some pretty revolutionary material science based on them in the last decade.

pfdietz |next |previous [-]

The application to EUV/XUV is important, as those wavelengths can be very useful for photolithography.

maciejw |next |previous [-]

AFAIK there’s a significant silicon wafer shortage at the moment due to AI boom and supply chain issues. Are RAM manufacturers going to compete for them with optics manufacturers now?

ranger_danger |next |previous [-]

That is a genius idea.

I assume this could be tuned for other wavelengths of light just by adjusting the size of the air holes and nanoscale structures?

Could the same idea also be used for directing RF?

ranger_danger |root |parent [-]

Also wouldn't the holes cause a percentage of light loss?

Ylano |previous [-]

[flagged]