PDMS liquid lens with corrected aberrations

Gan Junjie; Li Lei

doi:10.12086/oee.2022.210404

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Gan J J, Li L. PDMS liquid lens with corrected aberrations[J]. Opto-Electron Eng, 2022, 49(5): 210404. doi: 10.12086/oee.2022.210404

Citation:

Gan J J, Li L. PDMS liquid lens with corrected aberrations[J]. Opto-Electron Eng, 2022, 49(5): 210404. doi: 10.12086/oee.2022.210404

PDMS liquid lens with corrected aberrations

Gan Junjie,
Li Lei^,

School of Electronics and Information Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, China

Fund Project: National Natural Science Foundation of China (61975139, 61927809)

More Information

^*Corresponding author: leili@scu.edu.cn

Received Date 20 December 2021

Revised Date 20 January 2022

Published Date 25 May 2022

Abstract

Abstract

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) liquid lens has the advantages of large aperture and high power, but its aberration is serious. In this paper, a PDMS membrane liquid lens for correcting aberrations is proposed. The proposed lens is composed of a PDMS membrane, liquid material, and compensation substrate. Based on the paraboloid membrane model, an optical model of the liquid lens is established. The high refractive index liquid (1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate) and a compensatory substrate are used for correcting the aberration and improving the optical power. The proposed liquid lens is fabricated and the experimental results show that the effective optical aperture is 25 mm, the power range is -5 D ~ +6 D, and the transmittance in the visible band is more than 90%. Compared with the traditional lenses, the proposed liquid lens can improve the image quality, and the resolution is 15 lp/mm at +5D power. The proposed liquid lens has potential applications in large aperture optical imaging systems, such as telescopes, AR, VR, etc.
- liquid lens /
- polydimethylsiloxane /
- large aperture /
- lens

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References

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Overview

Overview

As an important device of adaptive optics, Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) liquid lens has the advantages of large aperture and high power. By changing the amount of liquid in the cavity, the lens focusing can be realized with the deformation of the membrane. This kind of lens has been studied for more than half a century. However, the development and application of PDMS liquid lens were restricted because of its aberration. PDMS is an excellent optical material, but as a hyper-elastomer, its deformation characteristics are complex. Moreover, the deformable membrane can be susceptible to gravity effects. As a result, the aberration of the PDMS liquid lens is serious. In this paper, a PDMS membrane liquid lens for correcting aberrations is proposed. The proposed liquid lens is composed of a PDMS membrane, liquid material, and compensation substrate. The aberrations caused by the compensatory substrate were opposite to the liquid part and the overall aberrations reduce. The work is divided into three steps. The first step is to measure and fit the surface profile of the PDMS membrane. Firstly, using a three-dimensional profilometer, the surface profile of the liquid lens at different power was scanned by the scanning probe stylus. Then curve fitting for depth data was performed to find the surface characteristics, and the results show that the PDMS membrane has a paraboloid profile during deformation. In the second step, an optical model of the liquid lens was established based on the paraboloid membrane model. Through optimization by Zemax software, the compensatory substrate parameters were determined. The high refractive index liquid (1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate) and a compensatory substrate are used for correcting the aberration and improving the optical power. In the third step, the proposed liquid lens is fabricated. Measurement with a focimeter for the relationship between optical power and liquid variation of the proposed liquid lens was conducted. The experimental results show that the effective optical aperture of the liquid lens is 25 mm and the power range is -5 D ~ +6 D. Finally, the optical performance was measured. Photos imaged through the proposed liquid lens were taken by a phone camera. An experimental system was designed for the resolution test, where the resolution target in a collimator was imaged through the liquid lens. What’s more, the transmittance of the liquid in the visible band is more than 90%. Compared with the traditional lens, the proposed liquid lens can improve the image quality, and the resolution is 15 lp/mm at +5D power. The proposed liquid lens has potential applications in large aperture optical imaging systems, such as telescopes, glasses, AR, VR, etc.