Light filter lets rays through from only one direction

Angle-sensitive device could improve photography and solar energy harvesting

FILTERED  A device made of glass and tantalum oxide filters light based on its incoming angle. The light ray coming in at 1 o’clock  reflects off the filter. But the other beam streaks right through the device unimpeded.

Weishun Xu and Yuhao Zhang

Like a traffic cop directing cars, a layered stack of transparent materials permits light arriving from only a single direction to pass through.