Variable Focal Length Research Articles

A Compact Two-Dimensional Varifocal Scanning Imaging Device Actuated by Artificial Muscle Material.

This paper presents a compact two-dimensional varifocal-scanning imaging device, with the capability of continuously variable focal length and a large scanning range, actuated by artificial muscle material. The varifocal function is realized by the principle of laterally shifting cubic phase masks and the scanning function is achieved by the principle of the decentered lens. One remarkable feature of these two principles is that both are based on the lateral displacements perpendicular to the optical axis. Artificial muscle material is emerging as a good choice of soft actuators capable of high strain, high efficiency, fast response speed, and light weight. Inspired by the artificial muscle, the dielectric elastomer is used as an actuator and produces the lateral displacements of the Alvarez lenses and the decentered lenses. A two-dimensional varifocal scanning imaging device prototype was established and validated through experiments to verify the feasibility of the proposed varifocal-scanning device. The results showed that the focal length variation of the proposed varifocal scanning device is up to 4.65 times higher (31.6 mm/6.8 mm), and the maximum scanning angle was 26.4°. The rise and fall times were 110 ms and 185 ms, respectively. Such a varifocal scanning device studied here has the potential to be used in consumer electronics, endoscopy, and microscopy in the future.

Harnessing Soft Elasticity of Liquid Crystal Elastomers to Achieve Low Voltage Driven Actuation

AbstractDielectric elastomers (DE) are soft electromechanical transducers that can generate large, rapid, and reversible deformation under an electric field. Despite being one of the leading candidates for soft actuators, the widespread applications of dielectric elastomers are restricted by the high voltage requirement (1–10 kV) for thin film DEs, which increases the system complexity and pose a potential safety threat for humans. In this work, a new class of dielectric elastomer actuators using liquid crystal elastomers (DLCEs) is reported. Soft elasticity of DLCEs and the high dielectric constant are utilized to reduce the actuation voltage. Freestanding DLCE thin film actuators (≈20 µm) are fabricated, which can generate large actuation strains (≈88%) at 400 V, an input voltage almost one order of magnitude lower compared to typical dielectric elastomers actuators. This allows to develop a soft tunable bilayer DE lens, which can achieve a 21% focal length variation at 500 V.

Novel Optofluidic Imaging System Integrated with Tunable Microlens Arrays.

Optofluidic tunable microlens arrays (MLAs) can manipulate and control light propagation using fluids. Lately, their applicability to miniature lab-on-a-chip systems is being extensively researched. However, it is difficult to incorporate 3D MLAs directly in a narrow microfluidic channel using common techniques. This has resulted in limited research on variable focal length imaging with optofluidic 3D MLAs. In this paper, we propose a method for fabricating MLAs in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microchannels via electrohydrodynamic jet (E-jet) printing to achieve optofluidic tunable MLAs. Using this method, MLAs of diameters 15 to 80 μm can be fabricated in microfluidic channels with widths of 200 and 300 μm. By alternately using solutions with different refractive indices in the microchannel, the optofluidic microlenses exhibit reversible modulation properties while retaining the morphologies and refractive indices of the microlenses. The focal length of the resulting optofluidic chip can have threefold tunability, thereby achieving an imaging depth of approximately 450 μm. This outstanding advantage is useful in observing microspheres and cells flowing in the microfluidic system. Thus, the proposed optofluidic chip exhibits great potential for cell counting and imaging applications.

A Focused Circular Array with Variable Focal Length

A Focused Circular Array with Variable Focal Length

Simulation and experimental analysis of aspherical double-liquid lens based on parallel plate electrode

According to the principle of dielectrophoresis, an aspherical double-liquid lens based on parallel plate electrodes is designed. In comparison with the liquid lenses based on patterned-electrodes, the aspherical double-liquid lens structure uses continuous electrodes, which have the advantages of simpler processing, lower cost, easier realization and more practicability. The droplet in the dielectric electrophoretic liquid lens is polarized in the electric field and moves towards the higher electric field intensity under the action of the dielectrophoretic force. With the change of applied voltage, the dielectrophoretic force varies, thus the contact angle of the droplet at the liquid-liquid interface is changed. Firstly, the models of aspherical double-liquid lenses under different voltages are established with Comsol software, and the data of interfacial profile are derived. Then using Matlab software, the derived interface surface data are fitted by polynomial, and the aspherical coefficients are obtained. Finally, the optical models are built with Zemax software, and the variation range of focal length and root mean square (RMS) radius of aspherical double-liquid lens under different voltages are analyzed. In order to further study the characteristics of aspherical double-liquid lens, it is compared with spherical double-liquid lens model. The liquid material, cavity structure and droplet volume of spherical double-liquid lens are consistent with those of aspherical double-liquid lens. The corresponding spherical double-liquid lens model is established by using the Zemax software, the range of focal length and RMS radius of spherical double-liquid lens under different voltages are obtained. The results show that the focal length variation range of aspherical double-liquid lens is larger than that of spherical double-liquid lens, and the imaging quality of the former is better than that of the latter. The experimental preparation of the designed aspherical double-liquid lens device is carried out, and its focal length and imaging resolution are measured. When the operating voltage is in a range of 0–280 V, the focal length varies from 54.2391 to 34.5855 mm, which is basically consistent with the simulation result. The feasibility of the liquid lens structure is verified experimentally. The imaging resolution can reach 45.255 lp/mm. The designed aspherical double-liquid lens based on the parallel plate electrode can provide a new scheme for the high-quality imaging of liquid lens and its application, and can expand the application scope of liquid lens.

An all metasurface-based fiber needle probe for Raman spectroscopy

Optical fiber-based spectroscopy sensors are widely used for industrial and biomedical applications. They normally consist of at least one excitation fiber and one collection fiber. However, the excitation and collection fibers are placed side by side, so the focal spots do not coincide. In addition, Raman probes whose excitation and emission span a wide wavelength range are limited by wavelength-dependent focal length variation, low sensitivity, and bulky size impeding their clinical adoption. To overcome the challenges, we propose an all metasurface integrated fiber solution. The metasurface technology is well suited for this application because it relies on specially designed nanostructures to manipulate light properties in an ultrathin footprint. Here we used our earlier demonstrated dual-wavelength excitation Raman probe as an example. The two excitation fibers at 671 nm and 785 nm feature a hybrid metasurface lens (metalens) including a narrow band pass filter and an off-axis focusing metalens. The collection fiber at 810—910 nm features an achromatic broadband on-axis focusing metalens. Simulation results show that by integrating the metalenses, the focal spots of the excitation beams and the collection beam coincide with a beam size of 4.6 µm, 4.6 µm, and 11.3 µm in the x-, y-, and z-axis, respectively. Moreover, the probe size shrinks by 100 times and becomes a needle probe. The needle probe will enable new applications such as small animal in vivo experiments, medical endoscopy experiments, and neonatal skin analysis for hard-to-reach areas. Furthermore, the proposed solution can be applied to work with any optical fiber-based spectroscopy sensors because the designs can be readily fabricated and put into practical use.

Method for extracting the equivalent admittance from time-varying metasurfaces and its application to self-tuned spatiotemporal wave manipulation

With their self-tuned time-varying responses, waveform-selective metasurfaces embedded with nonlinear electronics have shown fascinating applications, including distinguishing different electromagnetic waves depending on the pulse width (PW). However, thus far they have only been realized with a spatially homogeneous scattering profile. Here, by modeling a metasurface as time-varying admittance sheets, we provide an analytical calculation method to predict the metasurface time-domain responses. This allows derivation of design specifications in the form of equivalent sheet admittance, which is useful in synthesizing a metasurface with spatiotemporal control, such as to realize a metasurface with prescribed time-dependent diffraction characteristics. As an example, based on the proposed equivalent admittance sheet modeling, we synthesize a waveform-selective Fresnel zone plate with variable focal length depending on the incoming PW. The proposed synthesis method for PW-dependent metasurfaces may be extended to designing metasurfaces with more complex spatiotemporal wave manipulation, benefiting applications such as sensing, wireless communications and signal processing.

Analysis and Optimization of Parabolic Trough Solar Collector to Improve Its Optical Performance

Abstract This article presents a detailed analysis of parameters that affect the optical performance of parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC) and proposes a suitable method to optimize the relevant ones. A mathematical model is drafted and simulated for known geometry and parameters of industrial solar technology (IST) PTSC. The model was evaluated for three different configurations of IST PTSC involving distinct components. A comparison between the experimental results and model estimations indicates a maximum root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.7997, confirming the reliability of the proposed model. The influence of variations in absorber diameter (Dao), length (lrc), width (wrc), and focal length of PTSC (frc), along with direct normal incidence (In), dirt factors (ξdm, ξdhc), and angle of incidence (θ) on the optical performance of PTSC has been investigated. It was established that variation in mentioned parameters exhibits both positive and negative impacts on optical performance. After careful analysis, lrc, wrc, frc, Dao, and θ were chosen for optimization as it was perceived that by varying these in a reasonable range, an optimal set of parameters could be obtained that maximize the absorbed solar irradiation for a given PTSC. Genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and African vultures optimization algorithm (AVOA) are utilized to estimate the optimal values of parameters. Significant improvement in absorbed solar irradiation (∼16%) is registered with optimized parameters, suggesting that benefits can be obtained if a study is performed prior to producing PTSC modules for an application.

A General Calibration Method for Dual-PTZ Cameras Based on Feedback Parameters

With the increasing application of dual-PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) cameras in intelligent unmanned systems, research regarding their calibration methods is becoming more and more important. The intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of dual-PTZ cameras continuously change during rotation and zoom, resulting in difficulties in obtaining precise calibration. Here, we propose a general calibration method for dual-PTZ cameras with variable focal length and posture under the following conditions: the optical center of the camera does not coincide with the horizontal and pitch rotation axes, and the horizontal and pitch rotation axes are not perpendicular to each other. We establish a relationship between the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters and the feedback parameters (pan, tilt, zoom value) of dual-PTZ cameras by fitting and calculating previous calibration results acquired at specific angles and zoom values using Zhang’s calibration method. Subsequently, we derive the intrinsic and extrinsic parameter calculation formula at arbitrary focal length and posture based on the camera’s feedback parameters. The experimental results show that intrinsic and extrinsic parameters computed using the proposed method can better meet precision requirements compared with the ground truth calibrated using Zhang’s method. The average focal length error is less than 4%, the cosine similarity of the rotation matrix between the left and right cameras is more than 99.8%, the translation vector error is less than 1%, and the recalculated Euler angle errors are less than 1 degree. Our work can quickly and accurately obtain intrinsic and extrinsic parameters during the use of the dual-PTZ camera.

Varifocal-Piston Micromirror With Quasi-Simply Supported Piecewise Linear Flexure

Micromirrors with variable focal length are critical components of various optical systems. However, due to the limitations of microfabrication and actuation mechanisms, it is very difficult to control accurately the surface shape of a varifocal mirror. In this study, a novel surface-micromachined varifocal piston micromirror is presented. By simulating quasi-simply-supported boundary conditions, an accurate focusing of the mirror was achieved. The mirror is controlled by a parallel-plate electrostatic actuator. When the micromirror is actuated, as the driving voltage increases, the micromirror moves and deforms in two stages. In the first stage, four beams that support the mirror bend, which produces the micromirror vertical translation. When the translation reaches its limit, the micromirror enters the second stage, during which it bends to a concave shape and thus can focus light. A prototype based on the proposed concept was fabricated using a commercially available surface micromachining process. An analytical formulation, finite element model, and experimental measurements were adopted to study the electromechanical and optical performances of the micromirror. The focus length could be adjusted from 79.8 mm to 2.03 mm with a residual rms error less than 15 nm by changing the driving voltage. When the deformation reached its maximum, the first 21 Zernike aberration coefficients were all less than 3 nm. The proposed concept is also applicable to circular mirrors.

Design and application of a spherical aberration free continuous zoom liquid-filled micro-cylindrical lenses system

A zoom system named liquid-filled micro-cylindrical lenses integrating a capillary and a biconvex micro-cylindrical lens in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate is designed, which can achieve continuous changed focal length from 2.675 to 9.012 mm by injecting variable concentrations of glycerol aqueous solution into the capillary. The aberration fan diagrams, root mean square spot radius, peak-to-valley wavefront aberration, and modulation transfer function curves at different zoom configurations of the liquid-filled micro-cylindrical lenses are all analyzed, showing good imaging quality over the whole focal length range. And an anamorphic zoom system for uniform collimated beam is designed putting such two PDMS substrates similar as the Kepler telescope structure. The anamorphic system can realize the zoom shaping function with 1:2 to 2:1 aspect ratio beam conversion without machine movement along optical axis and with no significant aberration. The introduced zoom system is characterized by high image quality, small volume, and a simple and stable structure, providing a design idea for cylindrical lenses with variable focal length.

Simulation and Evaluation of a Variable Effective Focal Length of Refractive Binocular Telescope

The telescope works to magnify images of distant objects in general, but it needs special optical elements to complete the task to the fullest. The telescope needs optimal balance values of the optical parameters used to produce the best image, such as the effective focal length and the diameter of the pupil aperture, which are combined in a single concept called the focal number. The ground-based binary telescope relies on special lenses and an exceptional prism to achieve a hybrid design that produces clear images of relatively distant terrestrial objects. The pupil diameter of the telescope is relatively large to ensure that the largest possible amount of light is received, and as a result, a good image is obtained.
 In this work, an achromatic objective lens and a Porro prism has been used to reduce the length of the telescope and change the path of the rays to the eyepiece, in addition to the presence of a flat convex lens behind the prism to collect the rays coming from it to reach the eyepiece. The effective focal length of the optical system was changed to illustrate the effect of this factor on the performance of a telescope and as a result of its effect on the image quality.

Microbubble generation and large-scale assembly of colloidal particles by graphene oxide microstructures

The study of generation, growth and decay of microbubbles is interesting owing to its potential applications in imaging, trapping of colloidal particles and mass fluid flow. While there have been several reports on the generation of microbubbles using plasmonic nanostructure based substrates, they often are expensive and cumbersome to fabricate. In this study, we demonstrate a simple scheme for the generation of microbubbles using graphene oxide (GO) microstructures. Due to the excellent photothermal properties of this graphene-based 2D material, it is possible to generate and sustain microbubbles by laser illumination at low intensities of the order of few of μW μm−2. The size of the microbubbles can be tuned by changing the incident laser power. Furthermore, the generated microbubble acts as a concave wide-angle lens with variable focal length. We further utilised the fluid flow around the microbubble to generate large-scale assembly of silica beads and quantum dots using thermophoretic forces. This optically-assisted thermophoretic aggregation is rapid and reversible. Owing to the simple and cost-effective synthesis method of GO, this scheme is an excellent alternative to plasmonic heating based-methods for the generation of microbubbles .

Reconfigurable Parfocal Zoom Metalens

AbstractZoom lenses with variable focal lengths and magnification ratios are essential for many optical imaging applications. Conventional zoom lenses are composed of multiple refractive optics, and optical zoom is attained via translational motion of one or more lens elements, which adds to module size, complexity, and cost. In this paper, a zoom lens design based on multi‐functional optical metasurfaces is presented, which achieves large step zoom ratios, minimal distortion, and diffraction‐limited optical quality without requiring mechanical moving parts. Two embodiments of the concept are experimentally demonstrated based on polarization‐multiplexing in the visible and phase change materials in the mid‐infrared, both yielding 10× parfocal zoom in accordance with the design.

Design of IR zoom lens system for long-range detection in uncooled LWIR camera

A new compact optical zoom lens system with variable focal length 100–200 mm for uncooled LWIR (8–12 μm) camera is designed. It is used for long-range detection. The optimized IR zoom lens consists of four group elements. The F/# of the zoom system is F/1.4 at all zoom positions. Its performance reaches the diffraction limit at each focal length position. Moreover, optical design and image quality are calculated by ZEMAX optical software. The imaging quality performance is steady during zoom process. In addition to the above benefits, the optimized IR zoom lens is light and compact (200 mm) with 4 lenses and only one of them has diffractive surface to lower production cost. Upon applying anti-reflection coating, the total transmittance of the optical system is enhanced from 2 to 99% at λ = 10 µm.

Ultra-wide varifocal imaging with selectable region of interest capacity using Alvarez lenses actuated by a dielectric elastomer

A remarkable feature of Alvarez lenses is that a wide focal length tuning range can be achieved using lateral displacement rather than commonly used axial translation, thus, reducing the overall length of varifocal imaging systems. Here, we present novel lens elements based on Alvarez lenses actuated by a dielectric elastomer (DE). The proposed lens elements are composed of the varifocal component and the scanning component. Based on the proposed lens elements, an imaging system is built to realize ultra-wide varifocal imaging with a selectable region of interest. The lens elements have a variable focus function based on an Alvarez lens structure and a DE actuator and a scanning function based on the DE-based four-quadrant actuators. The large deformation generated by the DE actuators permits the lateral displacement of the Alvarez lenses up to 1.145 mm. The focal length variation of the proposed varifocal component is up to 30.5 times, where the maximum focal length is 181 mm and the minimum focal length is 5.94 mm. The rise and fall times of the varifocal component are 160 ms and 295 ms, respectively. By applying different voltages on four-quadrant actuators, the scanning component allows the varifocal component to move in different directions and endows the varifocal component with a selectable region of interest imaging capability. The scanning range of the scanning component is 17.57°. The imaging resolution of the imaging system is approximately 181 lp/mm. The system developed in the current study has the potential to be used in consumer electronics, endoscopy, and microscopy in the future.

The Effect of Accommodation on Peripheral Refraction under Two Illumination Conditions

The clinical importance of peripheral refraction as a function of accommodation has become increasingly evident in the last years with special attention given to myopia control. Low order ocular aberrations were measured with a Hartmann–Shack aberrometer in a sample of 28 young emmetropic subjects. A stationary Maltese cross was presented at 2.5 D and 5.0 D of accommodative demand and at 0°, 10° and 20° of eccentricity in the horizontal visual field under two different illumination conditions (white and red light). Wavefront data for a 3 mm pupil diameter were analyzed in terms of the vector components of refraction (M, J0 and J45) and the relative peripheral refractive error (RPRE) was calculated. M was myopic at both accommodative demands and showed a statistically significant myopic increase with red illumination. No significant change in J0 and J45 was found with accommodation nor between illumination conditions. However, J0 increased significantly with eccentricity, exhibiting a nasal-temporal asymmetry. The RPRE was myopic at both accommodation demands and showed a statistically significant hyperopic shift at 20° in the nasal retina. The use of red light introduced statistically and clinically significant changes in M, explained by the variation of the ocular focal length under a higher wavelength illumination, increasing the experimental accommodative demand. These findings may be of relevance for research exploring peripheral refraction under accommodation, as the choice of target illumination is not trivial.

Flexible Wire Electrode Driving Focus-Tunable Electrowetting Optofluidic Lens

An electrowetting-on-dielectrics (EWOD) liquid lens, based on a flexible wire electrode, is proposed to avoid the defects prone to occur in the large area coating dielectric layer inside the cavity. A liquid lens cavity is formed by winding the flexible conductive wire with a thin dielectric layer (named EWOD wire) along the direction of light transmission in a circular wall uniformly. A tubular double-liquid electrowetting lens with a clear aperture of 7 mm is fabricated to demonstrate the practicality of this fabrication process. It can reach a focal length variation range of (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$-\infty $ </tex-math></inline-formula>, &#x2212;30 mm] <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\cup $ </tex-math></inline-formula> [69 mm, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$+\infty $ </tex-math></inline-formula>) at a voltage of 0&#x2013;190 V_rms and shows the other performance not inferior to those of liquid lenses fabricated by traditional methods. The EWOD wire can be assembled into any shape, performing the potential to produce other optofluidic components.

Flying Chameleons: A New Concept for Minimum-Deployment, Multiple-Target Tracking Drones.

In this paper, we aim to open up new perspectives in the field of autonomous aerial surveillance and target tracking systems, by exploring an alternative that, surprisingly, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, has not been addressed in that context by the research community thus far. It can be summarized by the following two questions. Under the scope of such applications, what are the implications and possibilities offered by mounting several steerable cameras onboard of each aerial agent? Second, how can optimization algorithms benefit from this new framework, in their attempt to provide more efficient and cost-effective solutions on these areas? The paper presents the idea as an additional degree of freedom to be exploited, which can enable more efficient alternatives in the deployment of such applications. As an initial approach, the problem of the optimal positioning with respect to a set of targets of one single agent, equipped with several onboard tracking cameras with different or variable focal lengths, is addressed. As a consequence of this allowed heterogeneity in focal lengths, the notion of distance needs to be adapted into a notion of optical range, as the agent can trade longer Euclidean distances for correspondingly longer focal lengths. Moreover, the proposed optimization indices try to balance, in an optimal way, the verticality of the viewpoints along with the optical range to the targets. Under these premises, several positioning strategies are proposed and comparatively evaluated.

Broadband achromatic longitudinal bifocal metalens in the visible range based on a single nanofin unit cell

Metasurfaces provide a remarkable platform to manipulate over phase, amplitude, and polarization flexibly and precisely. Bifocal metalens draws great research interest due to its ability of converging wavefronts to different focal positions horizontally and longitudinally. However, as wavelength of incident light changes, chromatic aberration will cause the focal lengths reliance on the incident wavelength, which will affect the performance of metasurface, especially for longitudinal bifocal metalens. In this work, a broadband achromatic longitudinal bifocal metalens (BALBM) based on single nanofin unit cell is demonstrated. Pancharatnam-Berry (PB) phase is used to converge the incident light. Cross commixed sequence distribution (CCSD) is introduced to control the positions of focal points FLand FRwhen left-handed circularly polarized (LCP) and right-handed circularly polarized (RCP) incident. Propagation phase is used to compensate the phase difference caused by chromatic aberration. Simulation results show that in the continuous wavelength range from 500 nm to 700 nm, the focal point shifts caused by chromatic dispersion are reduced 81% for FL and 83% for FR, respectively. The focal length variations are stabilized to 6.21% for FLand 4.8% for FRcomparing with the focal lengths at the initial wavelength 500 nm. The proposed BALBM brings advances to bifocal metasurfaces in versatile application areas including machine vision, optical computed tomography and microimaging.