End-to-end simulation and stray light characterization of metalens imaging systems

Abstract

Metalenses offer compact form factors and flexible wavefront-shaping capabilities that benefit a wide range of modern imaging systems, whether used as standalone elements or integrated with conventional optics. However, the limited transmission efficiency and multiple diffraction orders inherent to metalenses make such systems particularly susceptible to stray light. Stray light analysis is therefore essential to identify and quantify ghost reflections and flares that may degrade image quality. These effects are increasingly important as sensors achieve higher sensitivity and AI-based image-analysis pipelines become standard. This work examines the principal image path including multiple diffracted orders for a representative metalens imaging system composed of a metalens component and a refractive element. We study stray light paths, flare and ghosting artifacts after adding mechanical housing and a sensor surface. In addition, we present an end-to-end simulation framework, that models the full image-formation chain, including optical performance, stray light, sensor effects, and image signal processing. The resulting virtual prototype enables rapid analysis of design trade-offs and accelerates the product design cycle.