Adaptive liquid iris for optical switch

Lei Li; Qiong-Hua Wang; Chao Liu; Ming-Huan Wang

doi:10.1117/1.OE.53.4.047105

28 April 2014 Adaptive liquid iris for optical switch

Lei Li, Qiong-Hua Wang, Chao Liu, Ming-Huan Wang

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 53, Issue 4, 047105 (April 2014). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.53.4.047105

Abstract

An adaptive liquid iris for an optical switch based on electrowetting is demonstrated. The device consists of a clear conductive liquid and an opaque insulate oil. In the voltage-off state, the dome of the clear liquid touches the top substrate, and an iris-like opening is formed in its central area, and the aperture of the opening is at its largest. When a voltage is applied to the device, the shape of the conductive liquid is deformed due to the electrowetting effect. As a result, the diameter of the opening is reduced. Our results show that the aperture of the device can be tuned from ∼6.4 mm to 0 as the applied voltage is changed from 0 to ∼60 V . The device can obtain a high optical attenuation (∼872∶1 ). The response time was measured to be ∼117 ms (shrinking time is ∼25 ms , and relaxing time is ∼92 ms ) with turnaround speed of 55 mm/s . Our device has potential applications in light shutters, variable optical attenuators, adaptive irises, and displays.

Citation Download Citation

Lei Li, Qiong-Hua Wang, Chao Liu, and Ming-Huan Wang "Adaptive liquid iris for optical switch," Optical Engineering 53(4), 047105 (28 April 2014). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.53.4.047105

Published: 28 April 2014

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