Cargando…

Design and Fabrication of a Tunable Optofluidic Microlens Driven by an Encircled Thermo-Pneumatic Actuator

This paper presents the design, simulation, fabrication, assembly, and testing of a miniature thermo-pneumatic optofluidic lens. The device comprises two separate zones for air heating and fluid pressing on a flexible membrane. A buried three-dimensional spiral microchannel connects the two zones wi...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Zhang, Wei, Li, Heng, Zou, Yongchao, Zhao, Pengpeng, Li, Zeren
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9415834/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36014111
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi13081189
_version_ 1784776330521346048
author Zhang, Wei
Li, Heng
Zou, Yongchao
Zhao, Pengpeng
Li, Zeren
author_facet Zhang, Wei
Li, Heng
Zou, Yongchao
Zhao, Pengpeng
Li, Zeren
author_sort Zhang, Wei
collection PubMed
description This paper presents the design, simulation, fabrication, assembly, and testing of a miniature thermo-pneumatic optofluidic lens. The device comprises two separate zones for air heating and fluid pressing on a flexible membrane. A buried three-dimensional spiral microchannel connects the two zones without pumps or valves. The three-dimensional microfluidic structure is realized using a high-resolution three-dimensional printing technique. Multi-physics finite element simulations are introduced to assess the optimized air chamber design and the low-temperature gradient of the optical liquid. The tunable lens can be operated using a direct-current power supply. The temperature change with time is measured using an infrared thermal imager. The focal length ranges from 5 to 23 mm under a maximum voltage of 6 V. Because of the small size and robust actuation scheme, the device can potentially be integrated into miniature micro-optics devices for the fine-tuning of focal lengths.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9415834
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-94158342022-08-27 Design and Fabrication of a Tunable Optofluidic Microlens Driven by an Encircled Thermo-Pneumatic Actuator Zhang, Wei Li, Heng Zou, Yongchao Zhao, Pengpeng Li, Zeren Micromachines (Basel) Article This paper presents the design, simulation, fabrication, assembly, and testing of a miniature thermo-pneumatic optofluidic lens. The device comprises two separate zones for air heating and fluid pressing on a flexible membrane. A buried three-dimensional spiral microchannel connects the two zones without pumps or valves. The three-dimensional microfluidic structure is realized using a high-resolution three-dimensional printing technique. Multi-physics finite element simulations are introduced to assess the optimized air chamber design and the low-temperature gradient of the optical liquid. The tunable lens can be operated using a direct-current power supply. The temperature change with time is measured using an infrared thermal imager. The focal length ranges from 5 to 23 mm under a maximum voltage of 6 V. Because of the small size and robust actuation scheme, the device can potentially be integrated into miniature micro-optics devices for the fine-tuning of focal lengths. MDPI 2022-07-28 /pmc/articles/PMC9415834/ /pubmed/36014111 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi13081189 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Zhang, Wei
Li, Heng
Zou, Yongchao
Zhao, Pengpeng
Li, Zeren
Design and Fabrication of a Tunable Optofluidic Microlens Driven by an Encircled Thermo-Pneumatic Actuator
title Design and Fabrication of a Tunable Optofluidic Microlens Driven by an Encircled Thermo-Pneumatic Actuator
title_full Design and Fabrication of a Tunable Optofluidic Microlens Driven by an Encircled Thermo-Pneumatic Actuator
title_fullStr Design and Fabrication of a Tunable Optofluidic Microlens Driven by an Encircled Thermo-Pneumatic Actuator
title_full_unstemmed Design and Fabrication of a Tunable Optofluidic Microlens Driven by an Encircled Thermo-Pneumatic Actuator
title_short Design and Fabrication of a Tunable Optofluidic Microlens Driven by an Encircled Thermo-Pneumatic Actuator
title_sort design and fabrication of a tunable optofluidic microlens driven by an encircled thermo-pneumatic actuator
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9415834/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36014111
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi13081189
work_keys_str_mv AT zhangwei designandfabricationofatunableoptofluidicmicrolensdrivenbyanencircledthermopneumaticactuator
AT liheng designandfabricationofatunableoptofluidicmicrolensdrivenbyanencircledthermopneumaticactuator
AT zouyongchao designandfabricationofatunableoptofluidicmicrolensdrivenbyanencircledthermopneumaticactuator
AT zhaopengpeng designandfabricationofatunableoptofluidicmicrolensdrivenbyanencircledthermopneumaticactuator
AT lizeren designandfabricationofatunableoptofluidicmicrolensdrivenbyanencircledthermopneumaticactuator