A Tunable Optofluidic Silicon Optical Bench

A miniaturized optical bench, based on silicon micromachining and with high modularity and flexibility, is presented. This optical microsystem integrates optics, fluidics, high-precision mechanics, and focal length tunable lenses and allows the realization of numerous optical arrangements, such as telephoto and retrofocus systems. Due to its dimensions, the technology may be used for designing a variety of endoscopic imaging probes, including those for optical coherence tomography. As the measuring beam can be dynamically adapted to the surroundings and application, this microbench yields an optical system with greatly enhanced functionality and performance when compared to existing concepts.