Bioinspired compound eyes with integrated waveguides for anti-optical crosstalk

Inspired by insect visual mechanisms, curved bionic compound eyes offer unique advantages in panoramic optoelectronic imaging. However, the limited degree of biomimicry in existing bionic compound eyes structures significantly hinders their practical applications, primarily due to optical crosstalk resulting from the absence of internal waveguides. In this paper, we report a curved bionic compound eyes with integrated inner waveguides capable of minimizing optical crosstalk through an innovative fabrication strategy. By employing curvature-matched focusing lenses and exploiting the photopolymer self-writing effect, the fabricated waveguides exhibit remarkable long-distance light transmission capabilities. The waveguides exceed 1.6 times the focal length of the microlens, along with excellent stray-light suppression. The reduction of 63.2 % in stray-light content and reduction of 81.98 % in point-source transmittance (PST) values were achieved. Optical performance tests confirm that the system is characterized by excellent focusing capabilities, a large field of view, and high sensitivity. This integrated architecture provides a crosstalk-minimized solution for micro-optical systems while advancing high-density optical MEMS and bioinspired vision technologies.