Search

Mechanoresponsive smart windows have been intensively investigated in recent years as they offer various applications for signage and light management. However, integrating a display functionality into such smart windows remains a challenge since the realization of pixels in these devices is difficult. In addition, mechanoresponsive smart windows with a high dynamic range are rarely demonstrated because they would suffer from complex fabrication processes and high costs. In this work, a novel surface modification process and digital encoding were developed for direct inkjet printing of micro‐etching‐masks on hydrophobic elastomers, and a pixelated haze distribution was realized. Compared to the traditional mechanoresponsive smart windows, which modify the optical performance by applied strain solely, here, a smart window with haze tunability in either static or strain‐applied state is demonstrated. The work enhances the potential of the fabricated smart window to be applied in high dynamic range signage displays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With emerging advanced optical sensing technologies and their wide-ranging applications, gathering comprehensive optical data from real-world scenes is becoming increasingly crucial for their accurate reconstruction and analysis. In order to capture both three-dimensional (3D) spatial and spectral information from a scene, multiple devices or time-intensive scanning processes are often involved. Here, we demonstrate a multispectral light field camera that allows for the simultaneous acquisition of 3D information and spectral data in a single snapshot. By utilizing inkjet printing as the fabrication technology, the miniaturized optical components in the camera were manufactured with high precision and can be integrated into a standard camera housing. Furthermore, the microlens arrays and the color filter arrays were fabricated on the same substrate, and a precise alignment between the two arrays was achieved. The compact multispectral camera opens the door to a multitude of possibilities for mobile applications, ranging from autonomous driving and consumer electronics such as smartphones to medical technology such as endoscopes.