title: A new method for fabricating high density and large aperture ratio liquid microlens array.
abstract: Conventional liquid microlens arrays are facing bottlenecks in controlling droplet size and shape, and limited aperture ratio. We report a new liquid/solvent approach to overcome these obstacles for making uniform droplet array and achieving approximately 90% aperture ratio. The droplets are very stable due to the pinning effect of the polymer walls and substrate surfaces. Using the fabricated droplet array, we demonstrate a tunable-focus microlens array based on dielectrophoretic effect. The microlens array exhibits a large dynamic range and fast response time (tens of milliseconds). Besides liquid microlens arrays, this fabrication method also opens a new door for making other tunable photonic devices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Polymer Nano-Science and Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Chonju, Chonbuk, 561-756, Republic of South Korea.
authors.forename: Hongwen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Daqiu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Shin-Tson
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004581:Electronics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007909:Lenses; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008904:Miniaturization; D012031:Refractometry