Metalens Patent Landscape Analysis 2024
According to MEMS Consulting, meta-optics is an emerging technology that uses metamaterials to achieve multi-dimensional control of the light field (including amplitude, phase, polarization, etc.) on the sub-wavelength spatial scale. Due to the abundant artificial tunable degrees of freedom and the physical mechanism of multi-parameter manipulation, meta-optics is predicted to be an important technology with the potential to produce disruptive applications and solve the bottleneck challenges faced by traditional optical components.
Metamaterials are functional materials that artificially construct sub-wavelength structural units (called metaatoms) that can manipulate electromagnetic waves or mechanical waves and form specific sequences, which often have physical properties such as light, sound, electricity, magnetism, force, and heat that conventional materials in nature do not have, such as negative refraction, focusing beyond the diffraction limit, and controllable non-reciprocal light transmission. Metasurface is a kind of two-dimensional metamaterial that can produce abrupt changes in the amplitude, phase, polarization and other aspects of the incident beam (such as electromagnetic beam) in the wavelength range of free space, and realize arbitrary wavefront control.
Compared with traditional refractive lenses, metalenses have the characteristics of planar structure, light and thin, and easy integration, and have important application potential in the miniaturization, integration and intelligence of optical devices and systems. In 2016, the first high-performance all-dielectric metalens reported by the team of Professor Federico Capasso at Harvard University opened the prelude to extensive research and commercialization in this field. Subsequently, Prof. Federico Capasso's team spun off to form Metalenz, where extensive research was conducted on the efficiency, chromatic aberration, aberration, multifunctional imaging, device and system integration of metalenses.
超构透镜设计与制造（DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf6644）
Conventional Lenses vs. Metalenses (Source: Metalenz)
Looking back on the development of the past decade, metalenses have gone through the process of principle innovation, proof of concept, achievement transformation to commercial application, device performance has been continuously optimized, commercial products have been emerging, and application scenarios have been accelerated. According to the report of Mems Consulting, in recent years, attracted by the market prospects, start-ups in the field of metalenses have emerged in an endless stream, including foreign manufacturers such as Metalenz, Imagia, Myrias Optics, 2Pi Optics, Tunoptix, etc., and domestic manufacturers mainly include Metalens, Najing Technology, Shanhe Yuanjing, Liangliang Vision, Heguang Micro, Alpha Cen, etc. In June 2022, Metalenz and STMicroelectronics partnered to deliver the VL53L8, a next-generation FlightSense™ time-of-flight (ToF) ranging sensor that uses metalenses in both the transmit and receive windows for smartphones, smart speakers, human-machine interfaces, consumer lidar (LiDAR), and augmented reality (AR)/ In 2022, South Korea's LG and Samsung competed to develop metalenses for the automotive and mobile phone miniature camera market, and in October 2023, Japan's Canon showcased its metalens technology at its Canon Expo 2023. As large companies such as LG, Samsung, and Canon enter the field of metalenses one after another, the pace of their commercial development will undoubtedly accelerate further.
Metalenz design + ToF sensor manufactured by STMicroelectronics (left) and lens unit with metalens displayed by Canon (right)
At a time when the global metalens industry is booming, it is necessary to understand the patent layout and patent status of metalens manufacturers and scientific research institutions, and identify new entrants in the field of metalenses and the threats they bring. In this report, MEMS Consulting deeply analyzes the development status and trend of global and Chinese metalens patents, excavates leading manufacturers, new manufacturers and scientific research institutions in the field of metalenses, and conducts statistics and analysis of their metalens patent application activities, so as to provide valuable reference materials for technical research, product innovation and industry-university-research cooperation of metalens-related practitioners.
An overview of global metalens patent applications
According to the statistics and analysis of MEMS Consulting, the global patent application for metalenses has exceeded 1,700, involving more than 300 patent applicants. From the perspective of the global patent application trend of metalenses, 2007-2012 was in the embryonic stage, with no more than 10 annual applications, and since 2013, the global patent applications for metalenses have generally shown a wave-like upward trend, with two significant increases occurring in 2018 and 2021 respectively, with the largest annual application volume of 369. It should be noted that, except for patent applications that require early disclosure, patent applications are usually published 18 months after the filing date, so applications in 2022 and 2023 may not have been fully disclosed, and the data statistics are for reference only.
Global Patent Filing Trends for Metalenses (Source: MEMS Consulting)
Metalens patents are mainly distributed in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), the United States, South Korea, Europe, Japan and other countries/regions, among which China has 682 and 224 metalens patent applications and authorizations respectively, ranking in the leading position, followed by the United States and South Korea, ranking second and third respectively.
Statistics on the number of patent applications and grants for metalenses in major technology target countries/regions (Source: MEMS Consulting)
A patent application can reflect the level of R&D investment in a particular technology by a country or patent applicant, while providing clues about the technological maturity of the main patent applicant. This report provides statistics and analysis of more than 1,700 metalens patents, and the chart below shows the top 20 applicants in terms of the number of metalens patent applications. Overall, Samsung Electronics and Metalans rank high in the number of simple families, the total number of patent applications, the number of active patents and the number of patents under review, and they have strong R&D capabilities in this field and focus on the global patent layout. In addition, Harvard University and Caltech, which have more effective patents, also have strong technological innovation and technology accumulation, and the technological innovation capabilities of Sunward Yuanjing, Metalenz, BOE, Applied Materials, NILT, and Hamamatsu should not be underestimated.
Geographic coverage of major metalens patent applicants and their patent portfolios (partially blurred)
New entrants are accelerating the development of the metalenses industry
New entrants to metalens patent applications refer to applicants who applied for metalenses for the first time in 2021-2023. Memes Consulting lists the top 20 new entrants by number of simple kinds. In recent years, domestic applicants, such as Sunward Yuanjing, Najing Technology, Huda Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Research Institute, Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, vivo, Liangliang Vision, etc., have begun to actively deploy related technology patents and compete to enter the field of metalenses. Other new entrants include Lijing Innovation and Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) from Hong Kong, Imagia from the United States, and NILT from Denmark. Among the 20 new entrants, 16 applicants from China, 2 from Hong Kong, 1 from Denmark and 1 from the United States were present. Among them, the number of Chinese applicants accounts for as high as 80%, indicating that China is actively deploying in the field of metalenses to accelerate its industrialization process.
Statistics of New Entrants to Metalens Patent Applications (Partially Blurred)
The competitive landscape and patent layout strategy of the main applicants
This report provides a clear picture of the active patent applicants in the field of metalenses, revealing their IP positions through an analysis of the patent portfolios of major patent applicants. This report provides an in-depth analysis of the metalens patent portfolios of 10 leading manufacturers, 6 new entrants, and 10 leading scientific research institutions, and introduces their metalens patent application overview, patent application activity, key patents, and recent patent applications. In addition, patent assignment analysis reveals vendors that have entered the field through acquisitions.
Metalens Patent Database
MEMS Consulting also provides an Excel database containing all metalens patents analyzed in this report, supporting multi-field search, including publication number, title, filing date, priority date, publication (publication) date, grant date, estimated expiration date, current applicant (patent) owner, current applicant (patent) address, original applicant (patent) owner, original applicant (patent) address, inventor, legal status/event, receiving Office, IPC classification symbol, number of citations, number of simple family members, The total number of times a simple family has been cited, and so on.
Table of Contents:
1. Metalens concept and key technologies
The content includes metamaterials, metasurfaces, metalens concepts, amplitude, phase, and polarization control mechanisms of metasurfaces, metalens design, material selection, manufacturing methods, achromatic, zoom, metalenses for polarization imaging, and metalens integration.
2. Patented analysis method for metalenses
The content includes the search and analysis process, patent-related concepts, metalens patent research objects, metalens patent analysis topics, metalens patent search strategies, and metalens patent classification description.
3. Analysis of global patents for metalenses
The content includes the analysis of the global patent application trend of metalenses, the analysis of metalens patents in the technology-source countries/regions, the analysis of metalens patents in the technology-target countries/regions, the analysis of the legal status of metalenses patents, the analysis of metalens patent applicants, the analysis of metalens patent segments, the analysis of metalens inventors, and the statistics of metalenses patents worth paying attention to.
4. Analysis of Chinese patents for metalenses
The content includes the analysis of the trend of Chinese patent applications for metalenses, the analysis of Chinese patents for metalenses in the countries from which the technology comes from, the analysis of the legal status of metalenses in China, the analysis of Chinese patent applicants for metalenses, the analysis of the patent subdivisions of metalenses in China, the analysis of Chinese patent inventors of metalenses, and the statistics of recent patent applications.
5. Patent analysis of leading manufacturers in the field of metalenses
The content includes the geographical distribution map of the leading manufacturers in the field of metalenses, and provides a brief introduction of each manufacturer, patent overview, current key patents, and recent patent applications.
6. Analysis of patents of new manufacturers in the field of metalenses
The content includes the geographical distribution map of new manufacturers in the field of metalenses, and provides a brief introduction of each manufacturer, patent overview, current active patents, and recent patent applications.
7. Patent analysis of scientific research institutions in the field of metalenses
The content includes a map and index of the leading scientific research institutions in terms of the number of patent applications for metalenses, and provides an introduction to each scientific institution (including the name of the institution, relevant departments/laboratories, profile of the institution, and the official website of the institution), patent overview, current active patents, and recent patent applications.
8. Analysis of legal events of metalens patents
The content includes the analysis of the patent transfer of metalenses and the analysis of patent licensing of metalenses.
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