Nanoimprinted hydrophobic meta-optics take inspiration from mosquito eyes

Mosquito-eye inspired hydrophobic metasurface enabled by NIL with sub-100 nm resolution

Journal

Light: Advanced Manufacturing · Volume 7 · Article 92

Paper published

19 October 2026

Brief published

20 October 2026

Authors

View 4 full affiliations

1
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR, China
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University · China · Affiliation source
2
School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shang-hai 200093, China
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology · China · Affiliation source
3
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Optical Sensing and Manipulations, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, Collaborative innovation center of advanced microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Nanjing University · China · Affiliation source
4
School of Electronics and Information, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
Northwestern Polytechnical University · China · Affiliation source

Affiliations belong to this paper; they do not establish an author’s current employer or nationality.

01 / FINDING

What the study reports

The authors use high-resolution nanoimprint lithography to make hydrophobic metasurfaces, demonstrating wavefront control with a spiral phase plate and exploring metalens imaging in adverse environmental conditions. The approach addresses the optical-design penalty that added protective coatings can create for low-index nanostructures. [1]

02 / BOUNDARY

What this does not establish

The main scientific text was not reviewed. The abstract does not establish service lifetime, manufacturing yield or a general cost advantage. The publisher dates online publication to 19 October 2026 and an accepted-article preview to 2 June 2026; Crossref supplies only the year, so the precise date follows the publisher.

03 / INTERPRETATION

Our engineering reading

In our interpretation, co-designing wetting behavior and optical geometry is the useful direction. Application assessment needs measured imaging performance, replication tolerance and durability under defined exposure.

Editorial interpretation; not an additional measured result.

SOURCES & VERSIONS

Mosquito-eye inspired hydrophobic metasurface enabled by NIL with sub-100 nm resolution

Light: Advanced Manufacturing · 19 October 2026

DOI: 10.37188/lam.2026.092

Publisher article and paper-specific author affiliations PRIMARY SOURCE · publisher · checked 20 October 2026
Crossref bibliographic metadata · metadata · checked 20 October 2026

Scientific coverage: Publisher abstract, publication chronology and complete ordered author-affiliation block reviewed; full scientific article not reviewed.. Source check: 20 October 2026.

Metadata enrichment does not imply that the full scientific methods were reviewed.