A tunable hydrogel microlens array with light-switching capability

Author

Ding, Zhenwen ; Ziaie, Babak

Author_Institution

Dept. of Phys., Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN, USA

fYear

2009

fDate

21-25 June 2009

Firstpage

493

Lastpage

496

Abstract

This paper demonstrates a two step casting process to fabricate a bi-functional hydrogel-based microlens array which responds to both temperature (becomes opaque above certain temperature) and pH (changes its focal length at different pH levels) and can be operated in air for an extended period of time. Each lens in the array is 1 mm in diameter and its focal length changes from 4.5 to 55 mm when the environmental pH is varied between 2.0 and 5.0. The light-switching capability is measured to be ~ 92% when temperature increases from 25 to 35degC.

Keywords

casting; hydrogels; micro-optomechanical devices; microfabrication; microlenses; microswitches; optical arrays; optical fabrication; optical switches; optical tuning; pH; environmental pH; light-switching capability; microfabrication; temperature 25 C to 35 C; tunable hydrogel microlens array; two-step casting process; Casting; Etching; Fabrication; Glass; Lenses; Microoptics; Optical arrays; Photodetectors; Physics; Plasma temperature; Hydrogel; Microlens array; Smart material;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference, 2009. TRANSDUCERS 2009. International

Conference_Location

Denver, CO

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-4190-7

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-4193-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/SENSOR.2009.5285369

Filename

5285369