Solidifiable tunable liquid microlens

• US 20030227100A1
• Filed: 03/12/2002
• Published: 12/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Chandross, Edwin A., Yang, Shu, Kroupenkine, Timofei N.
• Granted Patent: US 6,936,196 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 264/1.36
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 11/00365 Production of microlenses lenticular sheets B29D11/00278
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/005 based on electrowetting
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/14 of variable focal length

Abstract

A microlens of the present invention may include a liquid droplet whose position and/or surface curvature may be changed (tuned), e.g., by selectively biasing one or more electrodes configured to said droplet. The droplet may then be solidified to fix a desired configuration (e.g., focal length) of the microlens. In one embodiment, the droplet has an optically curable liquid adhesive that is polymerized under exposure to UV light. Microlenses of the present invention may be used, for example, in optical devices to obtain and then maintain optimal coupling between various optical components.

Claims

1. A method of making a lens, comprising the steps of:

(A) tuning a droplet comprising a solidifiable liquid on a substrate to a desired configuration; and

(B) at least partially solidifying the liquid.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said tuning step is performed by biasing of one or more electrodes adapted to control at least one of the shape and position of said droplet.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said at least partially solidifying step comprises the step of changing one or more biasing voltages applied to the one or more electrodes.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said at least partially solidifying step comprises the step of removing the biasing voltages.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least partially solidifying step comprises the step of fully solidifying the liquid.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said at least partially solidifying step comprises the step of solidifying a peripheral portion of the droplet to form an enclosure for inner portions of said droplet.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said at least partially solidifying step comprises the step of solidifying the liquid to the consistency of a gel.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least partially solidifying step is performed by applying a stimulus to the droplet.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the stimulus comprises at least one of a temperature change, electromagnetic radiation, and corpuscular radiation.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein:

for said tuning step, the solidifiable liquid comprises a mixture of NOA-6 1 and molten salt; and

for said at least partially solidifying step, the stimulus is ultra-violet radiation.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least partially solidifying step is performed by waiting a period of time.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said tuning step comprises the steps of:

changing the surface curvature of the droplet; and

moving the droplet along the substrate.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said tuning step comprises the step of offsetting one or more biasing voltages applied to the one or more electrodes to compensate for a volume change of the droplet during said at least partially solidifying step.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the lens is part of an optical device comprising two or more optical components and said tuning step comprises the step of optimizing optical coupling between said two or more optical components.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more electrodes comprise (i) four electrodes configured underneath the substrate and (ii) an electrode in contact with the droplet, wherein:

the substrate is an insulating substrate; and

each electrode is connected to a voltage source configured to independently apply different voltages to each electrode.

16. A lens produced by the method of claim 1.

17. An apparatus for making a lens, comprising:

(A) means for tuning a droplet comprising a solidifiable liquid on a substrate to a desired configuration; and

(B) means for at least partially solidifying the liquid.

18. An apparatus, comprising:

(a) a substrate;

(b) an at least partially solidified droplet disposed on the substrate;

(c) at least one electrode configured to the substrate; and

(d) at least one electrode configured to the droplet.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the shape and position of the droplet on the substrate are achieved by biasing the electrodes.

20. An apparatus, comprising a tunable droplet, which droplet has been tuned and at least partially solidified.