Lens views objects from nine angles to create 3D image

Other 3D microscopes use multiple lenses or cameras that move around an object; the new lens is claimed to be the first single, stationary lens to create microscopic 3D images by itself.

Allen Yi, associate professor of integrated systems engineering at Ohio State, called the lens a proof of concept for manufacturers of microelectronics and medical devices who currently use very complex machinery to view the tiny components that they assemble.

Although the engineers milled their prototype thermoplastic lens on a precision cutting machine, the same lens could be manufactured less expensively through traditional moulding techniques, according to Yi.

The prototype freeform lens, which is about the size of a fingernail, looks like a gem cut for a ring, with a flat top surrounded by eight facets. But while gemstones are cut for symmetry, the lens is not symmetric. The sizes and angles of the facets vary in ways that are hard to see with the naked eye.