Projects

In this project we have developed several types of liquid-based, tunable, optical apertures for use in micro-optical systems. In these optofluidic components, an optically absorbing liquid was packaged into a transparent, microfluidic structure; controlling the position or shape of the liquid allowed us to tune the spatial and spectral transmission of light. Both switachble optical attenuators and tunable iris stops were implemented. Another major part of the project was the development of a robust actuation based on electrowetting-on-dielectrics (EWOD). This approach allowed us to obtain highly miniaturized, fully integrated components, which require only moderate drive voltages (around 75 V) and show low power consumption (<5 mW). This project was completed in 2011.