The limitations of carefully stacked lenses, prisms, and mirrors, known as “bulk optics”, are now hindering advances in fields ranging from quantum computing to data centers, creating a critical bottleneck in scaling these technologies. Phaseshift is addressing this challenge by shifting from curved glass optics to flat microchip manufacturing, a move enabled by more than a decade of research led by Amit Agrawal, Associate Professor of Optical Engineering at the University of Cambridge. Agrawal explains the current constraint: By leveraging nanoscale patterning, Phaseshift aims to manufacture advanced optics using existing semiconductor foundries, potentially reducing system weight by up to 20 times and thickness by up to 100 times.
Metasurface Technology Enables Scalable Optical Systems
Current limitations in controlling light are hindering advancements in quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and autonomous systems, as traditional optical systems struggle to meet the demands of increasingly complex applications. These systems add size, weight, and cost and are difficult to scale. This difficulty is particularly acute in quantum computing, where controlling a growing number of qubits is physically limited by the existing optical infrastructure. This approach allows the company to leverage existing semiconductor foundry processes, the same used to manufacture microchips, rather than relying on the laborious assembly of individual optical components. The company’s materials science is a key differentiator; unlike many early flat optics platforms limited to silicon, Phaseshift has developed broader material capabilities, allowing operation in ultraviolet and visible ranges crucial for quantum systems and advanced sensing applications. “Across sectors such as imaging, LiDAR (laser mapping the environment which is important for applications such as autonomous vehicles) and augmented reality, the same pattern appears,” says Agrawal, highlighting the broad impact of this technology. “The underpinning hardware is holding these technologies back.” By moving towards flat, semiconductor-based designs, Phaseshift aims to support a wider transition in optical systems, potentially replacing the age of bulk glass with a completely flat future for light.
These metasurfaces mean that advanced optics can be manufactured using the same large-scale semiconductor foundry processes used to produce microchips, rather than being assembled piece by piece.
The persistent reliance on traditional “bulk optics”, carefully stacked lenses, prisms, and mirrors, is increasingly recognized as a critical impediment to progress in several high-growth technological areas, including quantum computing, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and advanced sensing systems. While advancements in software and algorithmic efficiency continue, the physical limitations of these established optical components are now creating a bottleneck, hindering the scalability and cost-effectiveness of next-generation technologies. This constraint impacts not only the size and weight of optical systems, but also the precision and speed of their manufacturing processes, ultimately slowing down innovation across multiple sectors. The company’s work suggests a future where optical systems are not painstakingly assembled, but rather “printed” like microchips, paving the way for more efficient and scalable deep tech solutions.
Modern optical systems still rely heavily on what’s known as ‘bulk optics’, carefully stacked lenses, prisms and mirrors that are aligned with extreme precision.
Amit Agrawal, Associate Professor of Optical Engineering at the University of Cambridge and a fellow at Trinity College
