Tunable Liquid Lens Using Immiscible Layers for Gravitational Coma
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tunable liquid lenses face challenges in compensating for optical aberrations, particularly coma induced by acceleration forces, which affect imaging quality.
Innovation Solution
A tunable liquid lens design utilizing immiscible liquids with specific refractive indices and mass densities, combined with a membrane, compensates for coma by adjusting the curvature of interfaces using electrowetting and mechanical displacement, ensuring low aberrations and high image quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single liquid is used in a tunable liquid lens, then the device complexity is reduced, but the ability to compensate for gravitational coma is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The liquid lens is divided into multiple immiscible liquid layers, each with different refractive indices and mass densities. This segmentation allows each layer to contribute differently to optical power and coma compensation, resolving the contradiction between reliability and complexity by achieving superior coma compensation through structured multi-layer design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite liquid structures with immiscible liquids having specifically selected refractive indices and mass densities. This composite approach enables simultaneous optimization of optical power and gravitational coma compensation, as the different liquid layers interact to provide both focusing capability and aberration correction.
2Power
If the curvature of interfaces is adjusted to alter optical power, then the optical power is improved, but optical aberrations increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adjusts physical parameters of the liquid layers, specifically refractive indices and mass densities, to optimize the balance between optical power and aberration control. By carefully selecting these parameters, the system achieves high optical power while maintaining low gravitational coma through the multi-layer immiscible liquid structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design effectively compensates for gravitational coma, achieving particularly high image quality by optimizing the refractive indices, mass densities, and membrane stiffness to maintain low optical aberrations.
Implementation Method 1
The curvature of the first and the second interface is adjustable. Adjusting the curvature of the first and the second interface enables to alter the optical power of the liquid tunable lens. The curvature s may be altered by means of electrowetting.
Data Source
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AI summary
Tunable liquid lens (100) comprising - a container (5) delimiting a volume (50), wherein the volume (50) comprises a first liquid (1) and a second liquid (2), - a first interface (12) is formed between the first liquid (1) and the second liquid (2), wherein the first liquid (1) and the second liquid (2) are immediately adjacent, - a second interface (23) is formed between the second liquid (2) and a third liquid (3), wherein the second liquid (2) and the third liquid (3) are immediately adjacent or the second liquid (2) and the third liquid (3) are adjacent to opposite sides of a membrane (30), - the optical power of the lens (100) is adjustable by altering the curvature of the first interface (12) and/or the second interface (23), and - the refractive indices and the mass densities of the first liquid (1), the second liquid (2) and the third liquid (3) and the stiffness of the membrane (30) are adjusted to compensate for coma induced by acceleration forces (99).