Fabrication and characterization of a two-dimensional individually addressable electrowetting microlens array

Abstract

We demonstrate a two-dimensional, individually tunable electrowetting microlens array fabricated using standard microfabrication techniques. Each lens in our array has a large range of focal tunability from −1.7 mm to −∞ in the diverging regime, which we verify experimentally from 0 to 75 V for a device coated in Parylene C. Additionally, each lens can be actuated to within 1% of their steady-state value within 1.5 ms. To justify the use of our device in a phase-sensitive optical system, we measure the wavefront of a beam passing through the center of a single lens in our device over the actuation range and show that these devices have a surface quality comparable to static microlens arrays. The large range of tunability, fast response time, and excellent surface quality of these devices open the door to potential applications in compact optical imaging systems, transmissive wavefront shaping, and beam steering.