Fluidic lenses with variable focal length

We demonstrate in this letter that variable focus lenses can be realized by pressure-induced deformation of a liquid interface. Large deflections can be achieved by exploiting the capillary pressure barrier generated by high surface tension liquids at the exit of a small well. Modulation of the inte...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2006-01, Vol.88 (4), p.041120-041120-3
Main Authors: Moran, Peter M., Dharmatilleke, Saman, Khaw, Aik Hau, Tan, Kok Wei, Chan, Mei Lin, Rodriguez, Isabel
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We demonstrate in this letter that variable focus lenses can be realized by pressure-induced deformation of a liquid interface. Large deflections can be achieved by exploiting the capillary pressure barrier generated by high surface tension liquids at the exit of a small well. Modulation of the internal pressure of a liquid interface produces a change in its radius of curvature thus a shift in the plane of focus. Using liquids with high surface tension like water and polymeric low surface energy substrates, liquid-air lenses were realized with a wide focal length tunability (optical power for 2 mm lenses from 130 to 350 diopters). Using the liquid-liquid interface of water and a nonmiscible liquid, pressure-induced tunable lenses were also demonstrated. The application of the lenses in imaging was also shown.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.2168245