Smart optical components based on liquid-liquid interface manipulation by dielectric force

Two smart optical components, which composed of two immiscible dielectric liquids, were introduced in this article. The liquid-liquid interface manipulation by dielectric force was applied to achieve the adaptive optical function, including variable focal length and variable aperture. The maximum optical power change of the experimental dielectric liquid lens was up to 91 diopter (D) while the actuation voltage was turned to 41 V_rms. Meanwhile, its maximum power consumption lowered than 0.4 mW. A variable focus dielectric liquid lens enables to change the effective focus length of a lens module. That can be used in the application of auto-focusing or zoom. A 2 megapixel compact camera module integrated with a dielectric liquid lens showed its ability to focus at variable distance. Its minimal focus distance achieves to be 1cm. A dielectric liquid iris was demonstrated its ability to control the amount of passing light. The aperture turning ratio was up to 65% and the transparent of its opening area was up to 85%.