Prototype promises to build light analysis directly into imaging hardware

Cameras are highly effective at capturing images. However, extracting the kind of detail that can reveal differences in materials, surface conditions or environmental changes that appear identical to the human eye has, according to researchers at RMIT University, typically been handled by external laboratory equipment.

By bringing light analysis alongside imaging, a collaboration between RMIT researchers — led by Distinguished Professor Baohua Jia — and a team at Zhejiang University — led by Professor Jianrong Qiu — has brought together ultrafast laser fabrication and applied photonics to turn a new physical approach into a functioning prototype.

“This is not about adding more image processing after the fact,” said Jia from RMIT’s Centre for Atomaterials and Nanomanufacturing (CAN). “It introduces a new physical component that separates light at a very small scale, close to the sensor itself.”

L–R: Distinguished Professor Baohua Jia and Dr Han Lin from RMIT’s Centre for Atomaterials and Nanomanufacturing with advanced nanofabrication equipment used in the study. Credit: Will Wright/RMIT University

Ultrafast laser pulses were used by the researchers to create tiny spiral-shaped structures inside transparent materials and a specialised optical system to visualise them. These structures act like microscopic light sorters, breaking incoming light into distinct patterns that a sensor can read.

Without moving parts or additional equipment, the compact device works by analysing light on the spot. The researchers said the prototype overcomes several common limitations of existing microscale technologies, working across visible and near infrared light and being largely unaffected by viewing angle.

Inside the nanofabrication system used at RMIT, where researchers can build and analyse structures about 1000 times smaller than a human hair, with real‑time imaging during the fabrication process. Credit: Will Wright/RMIT University

The team integrated the structure with a commercial image sensor to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, showing that it could detect spectral information and support microscopic spectral imaging. “Demonstrating that a concept works at the chip level is a critical step,” co-author Dr Han Lin from RMIT said.

“It helps move the discussion from what is theoretically possible to what kinds of sensing systems could realistically be built in the future,” Qiu said. Bo Zhang from Zhejiang University said: “Next steps include scaling up fabrication, testing other materials and refining the software used to reconstruct light information.”

The microscale optical device developed in the study, integrated with imaging hardware to analyse light at the source. Credit: Zhejiang University

The study was published in Nature Electronics (doi.org/10.1038/s41928-026-01618-z).

Top image: Dr Han Lin operates a nanofabrication system at RMIT, where structures around 1000 times smaller than a human hair can be built and characterised in real time during the manufacturing process. Credit: Will Wright/RMIT University