[해외감동사연] 애플이 발칵 뒤집혔다｜노벨상이 주목한 한국 메타렌즈의 충격

"Apple was thrown into turmoil. The grammar of the 100-year optics industry crumbled before a lens thinner than a sheet of paper." A unit price of 5 million won. That was the beginning of this lens. But now, it costs 5,000 won. A mere 1/1,000th of that price. Google went to find the scientist who created that technology, bringing 3.5 billion won with them. But they were rejected. And it was not in Seoul or Silicon Valley, but in a small laboratory in Pohang. And from that very laboratory, Nature, the world's most prestigious academic journal, published two papers simultaneously in the same issue. A first for a Korean. Now, the Nobel Prize is taking notice of this laboratory. 📌 The true story of South Korea's 'ultra-thin lens reversal' covered in this video [The Korean Lens That Surprised Apple] Apple was looking for a way to make the next-generation iPhone camera thinner, sharper, and cheaper. That is when a name appeared on the last page of a report. The research team led by No Jun-seok at POSTECH, Korea. It was South Korea, a country that Apple had never once considered the protagonist of optical technology. [The Collapse of 100 Years of Optical Grammar] For a long time, lenses were a technology involving cutting, layering, and precisely arranging glass. It was a century-long industry built by Sony, Canon, and Zeiss. However, instead of stacking thick layers of glass, a research lab in Pohang manipulated light itself using nanostructures smaller than the wavelength of light. [One-Hundredth the Thickness of a Hair] The metalens created by the POSTECH research team are one-hundredth the thickness of a human hair. Yet, this single thin lens can replace multiple lenses found inside a smartphone. It is a technology capable of eliminating the camera protrusion on the back of the iPhone. [From 5 Million Won to 5,000 Won] When this technology was first introduced to the world, the unit cost of a single lens was approximately 5 million won. It shone in the laboratory, but it was a technology that could not be used in products. However, a POSTECH research team developed a mass production technology capable of producing over 300 units per second using a roll-to-roll nanoimprinting process. The unit cost has dropped to the 5,000 won level. [The Impact of Chromatic Aberration] One of the most difficult problems with lenses is chromatic aberration. It is a phenomenon where the focus changes depending on the color of light, causing the image to become blurry. The POSTECH research team implemented a chromatic aberration-free metalens that addresses this issue. This was a problem that Sony and Canon had been unable to solve to a commercial level for decades. [Glasses-free 3D with a 100-degree Field of View] Existing glasses-free 3D technology suffered from image distortion even when viewed from a slight angle away from the front. However, the POSTECH team's metalens achieved a 100-degree field of view. This level allows users to view 3D images without glasses, regardless of where they are sitting in the living room. [800-Degree Heat-Resistant Metalens] To be used in products, lenses must withstand extreme environments. A POSTECH research team has developed a heat-resistant metalens that maintains its nanostructure even at 800 degrees Celsius. This technology ensures the structure does not collapse even at temperatures exceeding the softening point of glass. [Simultaneous Publication of Two Papers in the Same Issue of Nature] Publishing a single paper in Nature, the world's most prestigious academic journal, is a lifetime achievement for a scientist. However, POSTECH's research team led by Professor Noh Jun-seok published two papers simultaneously in the same issue. This was a first for a Korean researcher. [Rejection of Google's 3.5 Billion Won Offer] Google approached the team with an offer of an annual salary of $3 million, equivalent to approximately 3.5 billion Korean won. They presented top-tier research facilities, personnel, and massive support. However, Professor Noh Jun-seok declined. This was because he believed that this technology should be perfected in Pohang, South Korea, rather than in Silicon Valley. [Pohang, the Spotlight of the Nobel Prize] Metamaterials and metalens technology have now become fields that the Nobel Prize is paying attention to. Metamaterials were selected as the subject of the Nobel Symposium, and world-renowned scholars began to look toward the laboratories in Pohang. Korea was no longer on the periphery of optics. "Optics has been a discipline for 100 years. But the next 100 years may begin in Pohang." Apple did not consider Korea to be the protagonist of lenses. They believed it was a world created by Sony, Canon, and Zeiss. However, in a small laboratory in Pohang, that old belief crumbled. Lenses were no longer merely a matter of thick glass. It was a matter of how deeply one understood light. And Korea began to handle that light at the nano...