Tunable liquid microlenses formed from dynamically re-configurable double emulsions

Micro-scale optical components capable of on-demand reconfiguration of their internal morphology and composition would enable unprecedented control of light propogation on the microscale. Double emulsions formed from immiscible hydrocarbons and fluorocarbons offer a promising platform as reconfigurable micro-optical lenses. These droplet-based lenses can be reconfigured to strongly focusing, nearly transparent, or strongly scattering geometries. The dynamic variation of the lenses' optical interfaces can greatly enhance the lenses' ability to manipulate light. Finite Difference Time Domain and Raytracing techniques were used to characterize the optical properties of the drops and the simulations were verified experimentally immersing the lenses in an aqueous fluorescent medium in order to visualize their light manipulation capabilities. The lenses show a rapid response to external light stimuli or heat gradients and are susceptible to chemical triggers.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Nagelberg, Sara (Sara Nicole)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Mathias Kolle.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/100102

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/100102