Modelling the interactions between multiple metaoptical surfaces in cascade

Ghent, Belgium – September 1, 2026: PlanOpSim NV (“PlanOpSim”), a leader in metaoptics modelling and design, announces an industry first new software module product: MetaStack.

PlanOpSim software including MetaStack, is the first commercial metaoptics design software toolset capable of modelling the interactions between multiple metaoptical surfaces in cascade, down to the nanostructure of the meta-atoms.

“Designs that were only possible by a lengthy process at a handful of companies are now available to all optical designers thanks to PlanOpSim software, including MetaStack™, MetaComponent™, and MetaCell™”, said Lieven Penninck, CEO of PlanOpSim. “PlanOpSim’s purpose-built cloud infrastructure and multi-scale physics approach enable us to overcome the computational challenges of metaoptics modelling algorithms and deploy solutions that others can’t.  We are proud to launch this first release, and our roadmap contains an ambitious set of new features that will be introduced over time.

Metaoptics is an exciting new technology being used to miniaturize and functionalize a variety of optical systems, but its adoption has been slowed by the absence of tools to design multiple metaoptical surfaces in cascade.

• Designing high-performance metaoptics systems often requires cooperation between multiple metaoptics, for example: metaoptical surfaces on opposite sides of a wafer, bonded metaoptics, multiple metaoptic wafers in cascade, metaoptics combined with other components like apertures, coatings, and filters. 
• Today’s multi-metaoptics design methods are proven by measurements to be inaccurate , leading to poor MTF and unexpected stray light, leaving designers to rely on experimentation which is expensive and slow.  Designers use one design software tool to create individual metaoptical surfaces, and a ray-tracer to model the performance of multiple metaoptical surfaces in cascade, but ray-tracers are not designed to model the interactions between metaoptical surfaces.

PlanOpSim software including MetaStack™ accurately models the interactions between metaoptical surfaces: phase sampling, unwanted diffraction, zero and higher order diffraction, and light scattering, down to the nanostructure of the meta-atoms.