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We compare the performance and optical quality of two types of adaptive fluidic silicone-membrane lenses. The membranes feature either a homogeneous thickness, or they are shaped resulting in an inhomogeneous cross-section. The lens systems incorporate a piezoelectric actuator which is operated in a regime of ±40 V. The shaped membrane lenses show lower wave front errors than the planar ones, down to 24 nm. The pumping actuator indicates a maximum pump volume of 1159 nl at an inner piezo radius of 2.75 mm for the smallest supporting ring configuration. The full system with a planar membrane achieves a larger refractive power ranging from +19 to -14 dpt. It also shows a shorter full scale response time ( tplanar = 23.9 ms) compared to the shaped membrane ( tshaped = 35.4 ms).

We present measurements and simulations of membrane-based micro-lens stacks, tunable in focal length in the range of 10 mm to 50 mm without chromatic aberration. The pressure-actuated, liquid-filled, membrane-based micro-lenses are fabricated by an all-silicone molding approach and consist of three chambers separated by two highly flexible silicone-membranes. Based on the idea of the classical achromatic Fraunhofer doublet, two different liquids with suitable optical properties are used. Pressure-dependent surface topologies are measured by profilometry for determining the correlation between refraction and applied pressure. The profiles are fit to polynomials; the coefficients of the polynomials are pressure-dependent and fit to empirically determined functions which are then used as an input for optical ray-tracing. Using this approach, the focal length is tunable while compensating for chromatic aberration by suitably applied pressures.

We compare the performance and optical quality of two types of adaptive fluidic silicone-membrane lenses. The membranes feature either a homogeneous thickness, or it is shaped resulting in an inhomogeneous cross-section. The lens systems incorporate a piezo actuator which is operated in a regime of ±40 V. The shaped membrane lenses show lower wave front errors than the planar ones, down to 24 nm. However, the system with a planar membrane achieves a larger refractive power ranging from +19 to −14 dpt. It also shows a shorter full scale response time (t planar = 23.9 ms) compared to the shaped membrane (t shaped = 35.4 ms).

Simulation and measurements of achromatic variable-focus multi-chamber micro-lenses are presented. By using three liquid-filled chambers with well-defined dispersion behavior, separated by highly elastic silicone membranes, this achromatic optical system can be tuned in focal length by adjusting the pressures inside the chambers. Tunable achromatic micro-lenses are thus feasible.

We present the dispersion characteristics of 18 liquids and one resin, which are widely used as media for liquid lenses in adaptive and tunable optics and for index matching in spectrochemical analysis. These are measured by using a refractometer operating at six different wavelengths. We provide a short description of the measurement setup and present a detailed uncertainty analysis of the measurement system to provide a measure of the reliability of the data. We conclude with a catalog of refractive indices and Sellmeier coefficients of the measured liquids and show the location of the analyzed materials in an Abbe diagram.

We present an extended optical characterization of an adaptive microfluidic silicone-membrane lens at a wavelength of 633 nm, respectively 660 nm. Two different membrane variations; one with a homogeneous membrane thickness, and one with a shaped cross section, have been realized. This paper includes the theoretical predictions of the optical performance via FEM simulation and ray tracing, and a subsequent orientation dependent experimental analysis of the lens quality which is measured with an MTF setup and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The influence of the fabrication process on the optical performance is also characterized by the membrane deformation in the non-deflected state. The lens with the homogeneous membrane of 5 mm in diameter and an aperture of 2.5 mm indicates an almost orientation independent image quality of 117 linepairs/mm at a contrast of 50%. The shaped membrane lenses show a minimum wave front error of WFE(RMS) = 24 nm, and the lenses with a planar membrane of WFE(RMS) = 31 nm at an aperture of 2.125 mm.