title: Optofluidic lens with tunable focal length and asphericity.
abstract: Adaptive micro-lenses enable the design of very compact optical systems with tunable imaging properties. Conventional adaptive micro-lenses suffer from substantial spherical aberration that compromises the optical performance of the system. Here, we introduce a novel concept of liquid micro-lenses with superior imaging performance that allows for simultaneous and independent tuning of both focal length and asphericity. This is achieved by varying both hydrostatic pressures and electric fields to control the shape of the refracting interface between an electrically conductive lens fluid and a non-conductive ambient fluid. Continuous variation from spherical interfaces at zero electric field to hyperbolic ones with variable ellipticity for finite fields gives access to lenses with positive, zero, and negative spherical aberration (while the focal length can be tuned via the hydrostatic pressure).
authors.affiliation: University of Twente - MESA+ institute for Nanotechnology - Physics of Complex Fluids; PO Box 217; 7500 AE Enschede (The Netherlands).
authors.forename: Kartikeya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.affiliation: University of Twente - MESA+ institute for Nanotechnology - Physics of Complex Fluids; PO Box 217; 7500 AE Enschede (The Netherlands).
authors.forename: Chandrashekhar
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Murade
authors.affiliation: University of Twente - MESA+ institute for Nanotechnology - Physics of Complex Fluids; PO Box 217; 7500 AE Enschede (The Netherlands).
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Carreel
authors.affiliation: Ivo Roghair Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Applied Physics, Mesoscopic Transport Properties GroupP.O. Box 513, 5600MB Eindhoven (The Netherlands).
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Roghair
authors.affiliation: University of Twente - MESA+ institute for Nanotechnology - Physics of Complex Fluids; PO Box 217; 7500 AE Enschede (The Netherlands).
authors.forename: Jung Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: University of Twente - MESA+ institute for Nanotechnology - Physics of Complex Fluids; PO Box 217; 7500 AE Enschede (The Netherlands).
authors.forename: Gor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Manukyan
authors.affiliation: University of Twente - MESA+ institute for Nanotechnology - Physics of Complex Fluids; PO Box 217; 7500 AE Enschede (The Netherlands).
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van den Ende
authors.affiliation: University of Twente - MESA+ institute for Nanotechnology - Physics of Complex Fluids; PO Box 217; 7500 AE Enschede (The Netherlands).
authors.forename: Frieder
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mugele