Achromatic Metalens Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Filing peaked early. 2018 recorded 24 filings, the high point of the trend so far, with the 2021-to-2024 window down 60% as publication catches up with more recent filings.
- The top five hold just over half the field. Five assignees account for 39 of the 75 records in scope (52.0%), and the leading ten reach 69.3% — concentrated, but not a single-owner field.
- Optics dominates the classification mix. G02B covers 78.7% of records; semiconductor (H01L) and nanotechnology (B82Y) classes each sit near 16-17%, pointing to fabrication-side claim activity outside core optics.
Filing growth compares 2021 (10 records) with 2024 (4) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 75 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the achromatic metalens patent record shows
Achromatic metalens design addresses a specific optical problem: a flat, nanostructured lens that keeps its focal length constant across a range of wavelengths, rather than suffering the chromatic spread of a conventional refractive lens. The patent record in scope spans 75 published records filed between 2015 and 2026, concentrated heavily under G02B optical elements classification but reaching into semiconductor fabrication and nanotechnology application classes as well.
The filing curve rose sharply through the late 2010s, peaked in 2018, and has since declined as the field matured past its earliest broadband-visible-spectrum breakthroughs. Ownership is concentrated but not locked down: a handful of assignees hold roughly half the record, leaving meaningful room for new entrants in adjacent sub-areas.
Filing trend and technology composition
Three views of the same 75-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, how those records classify across IPC subclasses, and where they were filed.
Filing activity, 2017–2026
Filings rose from 6 in 2017 to a peak of 24 in 2018, then eased off. The 2021-to-2024 span shows a 60% decline (10 to 4), a real signal since 2024 is the most recent year with largely complete publication data; 2025 and 2026 figures will keep rising as later filings publish.
IPC subclass composition
G02B (optical elements & systems) appears in 78.7% of the 75 records, confirming this is fundamentally an optics claim space. H01L (17.3%) and B82Y (16.0%) point to fabrication and nanostructure claims layered on top of the optical design, while H04B, H04J and H01Q together suggest a smaller but active thread of metalens integration into communications and sensing hardware.
Shares are the percentage of the 75 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Achromatic Metalens Design with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about achromatic metalens design and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this space
Achromatic metalens and metalens with reverse chromatic dispersion (US20180216797A1)
An optical device includes a substrate, a reflective layer disposed over the substrate, and a metalens disposed over the reflective layer. The metalens includes a plurality of nanopillars, the plurality of nanopillars together specifying a phase profile such that the metalens has a focal length that is substantially constant over a wavelength range of an incident light of about 490 nm to about 550 nm.Filed by President and Fellows of Harvard College, published 2018-08-02. One of the two most-cited achromatic metalens records in the dataset, alongside the transmissive metasurface lens integration filing.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20190064532A1 | Transmissive Metasurface Lens Integration | 184 |
| 2 | US20190044003A1 | Optical receiver employing a metasurface collection lens | 82 |
| 3 | US20190196068A1 | Broadband achromatic metalens in the visible spectrum | 78 |
| 4 | US20180216797A1 | Achromatic metalens and metalens with reverse chromatic dispersion | 69 |
| 5 | CN108445555A | 超表面透镜 | 61 |
| 6 | US10408416B2 | Achromatic metalens and metalens with reverse chromatic dispersion | 38 |
| 7 | WO2019046827A1 | Transmissive metasurface lens integration | 37 |
| 8 | US20200271941A1 | Transmissive Metasurface Lens Integration | 34 |
| 9 | US20190025464A1 | Ultrathin, polarization-independent, achromatic metalens for focusing visible light | 33 |
| 10 | US10795168B2 | Transmissive metasurface lens integration | 31 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and skew toward older filings; they are not a measure of current commercial relevance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Reading the trend and classification data together suggests where claim space is crowded, where it has gone quiet, and where the record is thin enough to be worth a fresh look.
Ownership is concentrated but contestable
The top five assignees hold just over half the record, and the top ten reach 69.3%. That leaves roughly 30% of filings spread across a long tail of single- or few-filing entrants, meaning the field has not consolidated to a point where new claims are structurally blocked.
Core broadband-visible claims were staked early
The 2018 peak coincides with the foundational broadband-achromatic-visible-spectrum filings that now carry the highest citation counts. Later years show fewer new filings, consistent with the core phase-profile and nanopillar-array claims already being occupied rather than the technology losing relevance.
Fabrication-side claims sit outside the optics core
Nearly four in five records classify under G02B, but the 17.3% share in H01L and 16.0% in B82Y show a second layer of claims around nanostructure fabrication and materials that does not fully overlap with the optical design claims — a route in for applicants who cannot compete on pure phase-profile design.
Leading assignees show flat or declining recent activity
Several of the most active named assignees show no filings in the latest tracked year, and the broader 2021-to-2024 window is down 60%. Combined with publication lag, this points to a field where the largest holders have shifted focus rather than one that is actively expanding its claim footprint.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to achromatic metalens design, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the claims
Thirty-seven assignees appear in the ranking behind these 75 records — this is the complete ranking the dataset returns, not a top-50 or top-100 cut. The leader holds 15 records; by fifth place that drops to 4, and by tenth place to 2, which is the shape of the 52.0%-then-69.3% concentration figures above.
A single leader well ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 15 of the 75 records in scope, more than triple the fifth-place count of 4. That gap suggests an early-mover advantage built on foundational phase-profile and nanopillar-array claims rather than a crowded multi-way race at the very top.
A cluster of mid-tier holders
From second to fifth place, holdings taper from the leader's 15 down to 4, forming a cluster of assignees with meaningful but non-dominant portfolios — the group most likely to license, cross-file, or contest claims with the leader rather than avoid the space entirely.
Single- and few-filing entrants make up the rest
By tenth place, holdings are down to 2 records, and the remaining 27 ranked assignees fill out the tail. This long tail — roughly 30% of all records outside the top ten — is where opportunistic and first-time filers sit, often tied to a single design variant or fabrication approach.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Metalenz Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| President and Fellows of Harvard College | 0 | -100% |
| Magna International Inc. | 0 | — |
| Academia Sinica | 0 | — |
| Shenzhen Metalenx Technology Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Beijing Institute of Environmental Features | 0 | — |
| Synopsys, Inc. | 0 | — |
| The Regents of the University of California | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a field with a clear early leader, a cooling recent trend, and classification gaps outside core optics. The next steps depend on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, licensing, or new filing.
Check freedom-to-operate against the top holders
With 52.0% of records held by five assignees, any new filing in core broadband-achromatic or phase-profile claims should be checked against their portfolios first, not the long tail.
Run a freedom-to-operate check in EurekaExplore the under-claimed branches
Polarization-insensitive designs and laser-integrated metalenses show thinner filing density than the G02B core, and may offer more workable claim space for a new entrant.
Explore white space in EurekaTrack the leaders' next moves
Several top assignees show no filings in the latest tracked year. Watching for renewed activity, given the 18-month publication lag, will show whether that is a pause or a shift in focus.
Set up assignee tracking in EurekaCommon questions on achromatic metalens patents
An achromatic metalens is a flat, nanostructured optical element designed to hold a constant focal length across a range of wavelengths, avoiding the chromatic aberration that affects conventional curved-glass lenses. It relies on nanopillar or nanostructure arrays that engineer the phase profile of incident light rather than bending it through material dispersion. Because the design problem (phase engineering, broadband operation, focusing efficiency) is distinct from bulk optics, patent offices and applicants treat it as a identifiable sub-field, mostly under IPC class G02B with secondary claims in semiconductor fabrication and nanotechnology classes.
The ranking covers 37 assignees across 75 records, with the top-ranked holder at 15 records and a clear drop-off by fifth place to 4 records. The top five assignees combined hold 52.0% of all records in scope, and the top ten reach 69.3%, so the field is concentrated among a small group of academic and corporate filers without being owned outright by any single entity. The remaining records are spread across a long tail of single- or few-filing organisations.
Filing activity peaked in 2018 at 24 records and has declined since, with the 2021-to-2024 window down 60% (10 records to 4). Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent years in any such trend are undercounted and should not be read as the technology losing relevance outright. The pattern is more consistent with the foundational broadband and phase-profile claims already being staked, pushing new filers toward adjacent or under-claimed branches instead.
The IPC composition shows G02B (optical elements) covering 78.7% of the 75 records, while communications-adjacent classes like H04B and H04J each sit at only 9.3% and 8.0%, and antenna-related H01Q at 5.3%. That gap suggests polarization-insensitive broadband designs, laser-integrated metalens systems, and communication-band multiplexed metalens arrays carry thinner filing density than the optical design core, making them more open for new claims than the central phase-profile space.
US20180216797A1, filed by President and Fellows of Harvard College and published in 2018, claims a metalens built from nanopillars arranged to hold a substantially constant focal length over roughly 490 to 550 nm, using a reflective layer beneath the metalens structure. It is one of the most-cited records in this dataset, which signals strong influence within the searched corpus rather than current market dominance on its own. Anyone designing a metalens for that specific visible-band range with a similar reflective-layer, nanopillar-array structure needs to assess this claim closely; designs using different wavelength ranges, transmissive (non-reflective) architectures, or alternative phase-profile mechanisms sit further from its claim scope.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.