In this work, we report the design, fabrication, and characterization of a tunable optofluidic microlens that focuses light within a microfluidic device. The microlens is generated by the interface of two co-injected miscible fluids of different refractive indices, a 5 M CaCl(2) solution (n(D) = 1.445) and deionized (DI) water (n(D) = 1.335). When the liquids flow through a 90-degree curve in a...

Articles you may be interested in Thermally actuated tunable liquid microlens with sub-second response time Appl. A versatile liquid-core/liquid-twin-cladding waveguide micro flow cell fabricated by rapid prototyping Appl. A p H-tunable hydrogel microlens array with temperature-actuated light-switching capability Appl. We have developed a thermally actuated liquid microlens. An embedded thermoe...

Anisotropic phase separation has been used to fabricate an electrically switchable microlens array from nematic liquid crystals. Nematic liquid-crystal-based microlens arrays have been built with diameters of approximately 400 microm and natural focal lengths as small as 1.6 mm. The focal length of each microlens in the array can be changed in milliseconds by an applied electric field. These de...

Stop-flow lithography (SFL) is a microfluidic-based particle synthesis method, in which photolithography with a two dimensional (2D) photomask is performed in situ within a microfluidic environment to fabricate multifunctional microstructures. Here, we modified the SFL technique by utilizing an adjustable electrostatic-force-modulated 3D (EFM-3D) mask to continuously fabricate microlens structu...

We present a microlens array characterized by the electroclinic effect of chiral smectic A (SmA(*)) liquid crystals, which show the very fast dynamic switching characteristics required in high-speed optical devices. In order to easily control the intensity at the focal length of the proposed dynamic microlens structure, we adopt a solid-type liquid crystal polymer with optical anisotropy, which...

We calculated the expected microlens light curves for several accretion-flow models and compared the results to find what aspects of distinct flow structures can be extracted from the microlens light curves. As for the flow models, we considered the standard disk, optically thin advection-dominated flow, and the disk-corona model by Kawaguchi et al., which can nicely reproduce the observed quas...

In light of the continued rise in fossil fuel costs, alternative energy sources, such as solar technology, are increasingly important. Concentrating photovoltaic systems are promising for future efficient and cost effective competition with fossil fuels. We employ a microlens array to a CdTe/CdS semiconducting solar cell to increase efficiency via light trapping. Since the microlens array will ...

We demonstrate a novel method for fabricating glass microlens (arrays) with single step on conventional lens surface. In this method, the glass microlens can be achieved by only one step with sol gel glass material. The microlens aperture and focus length can be controlled easily and uniformly. The fabricated sample shows good focusing property. This work will be useful to improve the performan...

This paper presents an in-plane hydrodynamically reconfigurable optofluidic microlens, which is formed by the laminar flow of two streams of a low-refractive-index fluid and two streams of a high-refractive-index fluid in the two microchannels connecting to an expansion chamber where the microlens finally forms. In the expansion chamber, the stream of high-refractive-index fluid, acting as core...

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and operation of a newly developed micromechanical optical scanner array using a translating microlens. We have used photoresist reflow techinique to form a microlens on a surface micromachined -stage of the scratch-drive actuation mechanism. The lens scanner is placed at the focal length from an incident optical fiber to collimate the transmitting l...