Fabrication of Miniaturized Variable-focus Lens Using Liquid Filling Technique

TL;DR

This paper presents a simple, cost-effective method for fabricating miniaturized variable-focus lenses using liquid filling of PDMS, enabling adjustable focal lengths suitable for portable optical devices.

Contribution

A novel liquid filling technique for creating miniaturized variable-focus lenses with adjustable focal lengths without complex bonding processes.

Findings

Focal length adjustable from 4 to 10 mm.

Successful fabrication without expensive equipment.

Focal length controlled by liquid volume and contact angle.

Abstract

This paper describes a simple method for fabricating a variable-focus lens by using PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) and filling with liquid for the variable-focus lens. The lens diameter of 2-mm was designed in this experiment and expected to reach the focal length in the range of 3 ~ 12 mm. The theoretical value between the liquid volume and the lens contact angle at different focal lengths were simulated and measured. The pumped-in volumes ranged from 200 to 1400 $\mu$l, the contact angles ranged from 14.25 degrees to 49.02 degrees. Changing the deformation of PDMS film using different micro-fluidic volume produces the variable focal length from 4 10 mm in this experiment. The proposed method successfully fabricated a variable-focus lens. Bonding PDMS only once using no expensive instrument such as oxygen plasma was accomplished. The final objective is to insert the variable focus lens into portable optical imagery products.