3D Acoustic Imaging Hitting the Diffraction Limit via Fully Parameter‐Optimized Meta‐Lens and Frequency‐Domain Reconstruction

Z Zong‐Lin Li (State Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Paul C.Lauterbur Research Center For Biomedical lmaging Research Center for Advanced Detection Materials and Medical Imaging Devices Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenzhen 518055 China) L Lai‐Xin Huang (State Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Paul C.Lauterbur Research Center For Biomedical lmaging Research Center for Advanced Detection Materials and Medical Imaging Devices Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenzhen 518055 China) Q Qi‐Li Sun (School of Physics and Innovation Institute Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan 430074 China) Y Yong‐Jian Zhao (Department of Electronic Engineering The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR 999077 China) P Peng‐Qi Li (State Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Paul C.Lauterbur Research Center For Biomedical lmaging Research Center for Advanced Detection Materials and Medical Imaging Devices Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenzhen 518055 China) Y Yu‐Gui Peng (School of Physics and Innovation Institute Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan China) L Long‐Sheng Zeng (School of Physics and Innovation Institute Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan 430074 China) J Juan Zhou Y Yang Xiao X Xue‐Feng Zhu (School of Physics and Innovation Institute Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan China) F Fei Li H Hai‐Rong Zheng (State Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Paul C.Lauterbur Research Center For Biomedical lmaging Research Center for Advanced Detection Materials and Medical Imaging Devices Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenzhen 518055 China)

Abstract

Abstract Super‐resolution imaging is the long‐sought goal pursued in acoustics. In the past decade, many solutions have been proposed by utilizing various metamaterial devices. For example, in acoustics, the holographic meta‐lens is employed to improve the lateral resolutions of ultrasonic imaging. However, the filtering effect of meta‐lens broadens the acoustic wave pulses, which severely degrades longitudinal resolutions, making the high‐resolution 3D imaging hitherto quite challenging. Here, an innovative solution is proposed by designing and implementing a fully parameter‐optimized meta‐lens. At the fundamental frequency, this meta‐lens can achieve a lateral resolution of 80 µm (≈0.37λ 0 ), successfully breaking the diffraction limit. Through the frequency‐domain reconstruction, the longitudinal resolution is increased to 296 µm (≈1.36λ 0 ). Utilizing the nonlinear effect of ultrasound in water, the acoustic meta‐lens can furtherly optimize its imaging quality at the harmonic frequency, where the lateral resolution is increased to 44 µm (≈0.2λ 0 ) with the longitudinal resolution to 148 µm (≈0.68λ 0 ). The work breaks the bias on meta‐lenses with deteriorated longitudinal resolution for broad applications in functional ultrasonic imaging.

Article Details

Volume / Issue Vol. 37, Issue 44
Published November 01, 2025
ISSN 0935-9648
Publisher Unknown Publisher

Journal Info

Advanced Materials

Unknown Publisher

ISSN: 0935-9648 Physical Sciences

Authors (12)

Z

Zong‐Lin Li

State Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Paul C.Lauterbur Research Center For Biomedical lmaging Research Center for Advanced Detection Materials and Medical Imaging Devices Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenzhen 518055 China

L

Lai‐Xin Huang

State Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Paul C.Lauterbur Research Center For Biomedical lmaging Research Center for Advanced Detection Materials and Medical Imaging Devices Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenzhen 518055 China

Q

Qi‐Li Sun

School of Physics and Innovation Institute Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan 430074 China

Y

Yong‐Jian Zhao

Department of Electronic Engineering The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR 999077 China

P

Peng‐Qi Li

State Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Paul C.Lauterbur Research Center For Biomedical lmaging Research Center for Advanced Detection Materials and Medical Imaging Devices Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenzhen 518055 China

Y

Yu‐Gui Peng

School of Physics and Innovation Institute Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan China

L

Long‐Sheng Zeng

School of Physics and Innovation Institute Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan 430074 China

J

Juan Zhou

Y

Yang Xiao

X

Xue‐Feng Zhu

School of Physics and Innovation Institute Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan China

F

Fei Li

H

Hai‐Rong Zheng

State Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Science and System Paul C.Lauterbur Research Center For Biomedical lmaging Research Center for Advanced Detection Materials and Medical Imaging Devices Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenzhen 518055 China