Recent Advances in Liquid Photonic Devices

A special issue of Photonics (ISSN 2304-6732). This special issue belongs to the section "Optoelectronics and Optical Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2025) | Viewed by 1557

Special Issue Editors

School of Optics and Photonics, Beijing Institute of Technology, No. 5 Yard, Zhong Guan Cun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: adaptive lens; liquid lens; Alvarez lens; metalens; dielectric elastomer; compound eye; bionic imaging

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Guest Editor
School of Future Science and Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou 215299, China
Interests: adaptive optics; high-speed vision; dynamic interaction
School of Instrumentation and Optoelectronic Engineering, Beihang University, No. 37 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China
Interests: liquid lens; bionic imaging; computational imaging
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A liquid photonic device refers to a novel optoelectronic device. It is different from a traditional photonic device made of solid-state material. Liquid is employed as the optical media of a liquid photonic device. Liquid photonic devices are superior to traditional solid-state assemblies in terms of reduced bulk and weight, as well as having a high-speed response, low material costs, and facile fabrication. Such benefits can be used in imaging applications where space is at a premium. With the development of new optoelectric technology and novel materials, liquid photonic devices are experiencing significant advances.

This Special Issue aims to present the recent advances in liquid photonic devices. Original research articles and reviews are welcome. We look forward to receiving your contributions. Research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Liquid lens.
  • Liquid crystal lens.
  • Liquid beam deflector.
  • Liquid prism.
  • Microfluidics.
  • Electrowetting effect.
  • Dielectrophoretic effect.
  • Dielectric elastomer.

Dr. Yang Cheng
Prof. Dr. Lihui Wang
Dr. Chao Liu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • liquid photonic devices
  • liquid lens
  • liquid crystal lens, liquid light switch
  • microfluidics
  • dielectric elastomer
  • electrowetting effect
  • dielectrophoretic effect

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

32 pages, 12187 KiB  
Review
Adaptive Varifocal Lenses Based on Dielectric Elastomer Actuator
by Shibiao Li, Lin Liu, Haoyue Xing, Zhaohui Li and Yang Cheng
Photonics 2025, 12(3), 227; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics12030227 - 1 Mar 2025
Viewed by 895
Abstract
Optical imaging systems using varifocal lenses have been widely used in many applications over the past several decades, such as machine vision devices, consumer electronic products, and medical instruments. Traditional varifocal lenses often consist of multiple solid focal length refractive optical elements. The [...] Read more.
Optical imaging systems using varifocal lenses have been widely used in many applications over the past several decades, such as machine vision devices, consumer electronic products, and medical instruments. Traditional varifocal lenses often consist of multiple solid focal length refractive optical elements. The varifocal ability is obtained by dislocating these optical elements along the optical axis over specific distances using mechanical driving mechanisms. It makes the traditional optical varifocal imaging systems suffer from bulky dimensions, slow response speed, complicated configuration, and discrete magnifications. Adaptive varifocal lenses have been a better choice to address the aforementioned limitations of traditional varifocal lenses. Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA), which can effectively respond to an electric field and result in shape deformation, have been used to develop various adaptive lenses. This paper aims to give a brief review of adaptive varifocal lenses based on DEA. First, this paper describes the basic physical mechanism of DEA. Second, this paper reviews adaptive varifocal liquid lenses based on DEA and introduces their material, structure, and fabrication process, focusing on their unique advantages, such as fast response speed and compactness. However, despite these merits, the adaptive varifocal liquid lens still has challenges in environment stability and liquid leakage. To address these challenges, adaptive varifocal soft solid lenses based on DEA have been proposed, which are also reviewed. In addition, other adaptive varifocal lenses, including metalens, Fresnel lens, microlens array, and Alvarez lens, are also presented. Finally, the prospects and challenges for the development of adaptive varifocal lenses based on DEA are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Liquid Photonic Devices)
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