Evolution of the fourth generation optics

Abstract

It has been just over 20 years from the first disclosure of a thin and transparent film that would allow controlling propagation of light, an unpolarized and broadband light, with 100% efficiency. First it was an idea seemingly at odds with conventional optics. Then came demonstrations of the thinnest planar optics - “prisms”, lenses, beam shapers, arrays and vortices, switchable or not, - in sizes currently 8” and larger. Novel film architectures extended spectral and angular bandwidths of planar optics to unprecedented scales, changing the ways optics is made and opening avenues to long cherished dreams of adaptation, tunability, multifunctionality, and cost. History is in the making and will be presented first hand with an outline of the marvels in functionality and capabilities waiting for optics behind the horizon.