Adaptive metalenses with simultaneous electrical control of focal length, astigmatism, and shift.

Focal adjustment and zooming are universal features of cameras and advanced optical systems. Such tuning is usually performed longitudinally along the optical axis by mechanical or electrical control of focal length. However, the recent advent of ultrathin planar lenses based on metasurfaces (metalenses), which opens the door to future drastic miniaturization of mobile devices such as cell phones and wearable displays, mandates fundamentally different forms of tuning based on lateral motion rather than longitudinal motion. Theory shows that the strain field of a metalens substrate can be directly mapped into the outgoing optical wavefront to achieve large diffraction-limited focal length tuning and control of aberrations. We demonstrate electrically tunable large-area metalenses controlled by artificial muscles capable of simultaneously performing focal length tuning (>100%) as well as on-the-fly astigmatism and image shift corrections, which until now were only possible in electron optics. The device thickness is only 30 µm. Our results demonstrate the possibility of future optical microscopes that fully operate electronically, as well as compact optical systems that use the principles of adaptive optics to correct many orders of aberrations simultaneously.

Large area metalenses: design, characterization, and mass manufacturing.

Optical components, such as lenses, have traditionally been made in the bulk form by shaping glass or other transparent materials. Recent advances in metasurfaces provide a new basis for recasting optical components into thin, planar elements, having similar or better performance using arrays of subwavelength-spaced optical phase-shifters. The technology required to mass produce them dates back to the mid-1990s, when the feature sizes of semiconductor manufacturing became considerably denser than the wavelength of light, advancing in stride with Moore's law. This provides the possibility of unifying two industries: semiconductor manufacturing and lens-making, whereby the same technology used to make computer chips is used to make optical components, such as lenses, based on metasurfaces. Using a scalable metasurface layout compression algorithm that exponentially reduces design file sizes (by 3 orders of magnitude for a centimeter diameter lens) and stepper photolithography, we show the design and fabrication of metasurface lenses (metalenses) with extremely large areas, up to centimeters in diameter and beyond. Using a single two-centimeter diameter near-infrared metalens less than a micron thick fabricated in this way, we experimentally implement the ideal thin lens equation, while demonstrating high-quality imaging and diffraction-limited focusing.

Electrically-tunable surface deformation of a soft elastomer.

The flat surface of a thin elastomer on a conducting substrate can be deformed by applying an electric field to a percolating network of metallic nanowires randomly dispersed over the surface. The magnitude of the field-induced surface undulations increases with the applied field and can locally be several times the diameter of the nanowires. Optical imaging indicates that the effect is reversible and the surface flatness is recovered when the electric field is removed. It is found that it is the field-induced changes in the surface morphology rather than the nanowires themselves that strongly scatter light. The optical effects could be exploited in functional devices including tunable privacy windows, displays, and camouflage. There is also the potential for tuning the adhesion of elastomers to other materials.

Electrically tunable window device.

A device for controlling the transmittance of light over large areas, such as windows, is described. It is based on electrostatically induced surface deformation of soft dielectric elastomer sheets produced when a voltage is applied between two networks of electrically conducting nanowires on either side of the elastomer. Variations in the surface curvature are produced by the applied voltage refract light, decreasing the optical transmittance at all wavelengths. As the device relies on changes in the geometric propagation of light, rather than on chemical changes, it is color neutral.

Dielectric Elastomer Based "Grippers" for Soft Robotics.

The use of few stiff fibers to control the deformation of dielectric elastomer actuators, in particular to break the symmetry of equi-biaxial lateral strain in the absence of prestretch, is demonstrated. Actuators with patterned fibers are shown to evolve into unique shapes upon electrical actuation, enabling novel designs of gripping actuators for soft robotics.

Optimizing the electrical energy conversion cycle of dielectric elastomer generators.

A strategy to control the electrical charge is developed to achieve high energy density of soft dielectric elastomer generators for energy harvesting. The strategy is analytically shown and experimentally demonstrated to produce the highest energy density ever reported for a soft generator.

Complex ordered patterns in mechanical instability induced geometrically frustrated triangular cellular structures.

Geometrical frustration arises when a local order cannot propagate throughout the space because of geometrical constraints. This phenomenon plays a major role in many systems leading to disordered ground-state configurations. Here, we report a theoretical and experimental study on the behavior of buckling-induced geometrically frustrated triangular cellular structures. To our surprise, we find that buckling induces complex ordered patterns which can be tuned by controlling the porosity of the structures. Our analysis reveals that the connected geometry of the cellular structure plays a crucial role in the generation of ordered states in this frustrated system.

Tunable lenses using transparent dielectric elastomer actuators.

Focus tunable, adaptive lenses provide several advantages over traditional lens assemblies in terms of compactness, cost, efficiency, and flexibility. To further improve the simplicity and compact nature of adaptive lenses, we present an elastomer-liquid lens system which makes use of an inline, transparent electroactive polymer actuator. The lens requires only a minimal number of components: a frame, a passive membrane, a dielectric elastomer actuator membrane, and a clear liquid. The focal length variation was recorded to be greater than 100% with this system, responding in less than one second. Through the analysis of membrane deformation within geometrical constraints, it is shown that by selecting appropriate lens dimensions, even larger focusing dynamic ranges can be achieved.

Nanopatterned protein microrings from a diatom that direct silica morphogenesis.

Diatoms are eukaryotic microalgae that produce species-specifically structured cell walls made of SiO(2) (silica). Formation of the intricate silica structures of diatoms is regarded as a paradigm for biomolecule-controlled self-assembly of three-dimensional, nano- to microscale-patterned inorganic materials. Silica formation involves long-chain polyamines and phosphoproteins (silaffins and silacidins), which are readily soluble in water, and spontaneously form dynamic supramolecular assemblies that accelerate silica deposition and influence silica morphogenesis in vitro. However, synthesis of diatom-like silica structure in vitro has not yet been accomplished, indicating that additional components are required. Here we describe the discovery and intracellular location of six novel proteins (cingulins) that are integral components of a silica-forming organic matrix (microrings) in the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana. The cingulin-containing microrings are specifically associated with girdle bands, which constitute a substantial part of diatom biosilica. Remarkably, the microrings exhibit protein-based nanopatterns that closely resemble characteristic features of the girdle band silica nanopatterns. Upon the addition of silicic acid the microrings become rapidly mineralized in vitro generating nanopatterned silica replicas of the microring structures. A silica-forming organic matrix with characteristic nanopatterns was also discovered in the diatom Coscinodiscus wailesii, which suggests that preassembled protein-based templates might be general components of the cellular machinery for silica morphogenesis in diatoms. These data provide fundamentally new insight into the molecular mechanisms of biological silica morphogenesis, and may lead to the development of self-assembled 3D mineral forming protein scaffolds with designed nanopatterns for a host of applications in nanotechnology.

A gas-tight Cu K alpha x-ray transparent reaction chamber for high-temperature x-ray diffraction analyses of halide gas/solid reactions.

An externally heated, x-ray transparent reaction chamber has been developed to enable the dynamic high temperature x-ray diffraction (HTXRD) analysis of a gas/solid [TiF(4)(g)/SiO(2)(s)] reaction involving a halide gas reactant formed at elevated temperatures (up to 350 degrees C) from a condensed source (TiF(4) powder) sealed within the chamber. The reaction chamber possessed x-ray transparent windows comprised of a thin (13 microm) internal layer of Al foil and a thicker (125 microm) external Kapton film. After sealing the SiO(2) specimens (diatom frustules or Stober spheres) above TiF(4) powder within the reaction chamber, the chamber was heated to a temperature in the range of 160-350 degrees C to allow for internal generation of TiF(4)(g). The TiF(4)(g) underwent a metathetic reaction with the SiO(2) specimen to yield a TiOF(2)(s) product. HTXRD analysis, using Cu K alpha x rays passed through the Kapton/Al windows of the chamber, was used to track the extent of SiO(2) consumption and/or TiOF(2) formation with time. The Al foil inner layer of the windows protected the Kapton film from chemical attack by TiF(4)(g), whereas the thicker, more transparent Kapton film provided the mechanical strength needed to contain this gas. By selecting an appropriate combination of x-ray transparent materials to endow such composite windows with the required thermal, chemical, and mechanical performance, this inexpensive reaction chamber design may be applied to the HTXRD analyses of a variety of gas/solid reactions.

Chemical reduction of three-dimensional silica micro-assemblies into microporous silicon replicas.

The carbothermal reduction of silica into silicon requires the use of temperatures well above the silicon melting point (> or =2,000 degrees C). Solid silicon has recently been generated directly from silica at much lower temperatures (< or =850 degrees C) via electrochemical reduction in molten salts. However, the silicon products of such electrochemical reduction did not retain the microscale morphology of the starting silica reactants. Here we demonstrate a low-temperature (650 degrees C) magnesiothermic reduction process for converting three-dimensional nanostructured silica micro-assemblies into microporous nanocrystalline silicon replicas. The intricate nanostructured silica microshells (frustules) of diatoms (unicellular algae) were converted into co-continuous, nanocrystalline mixtures of silicon and magnesia by reaction with magnesium gas. Selective magnesia dissolution then yielded an interconnected network of silicon nanocrystals that retained the starting three-dimensional frustule morphology. The silicon replicas possessed a high specific surface area (>500 m(2) g(-1)), and contained a significant population of micropores (< or =20 A). The silicon replicas were photoluminescent, and exhibited rapid changes in impedance upon exposure to gaseous nitric oxide (suggesting a possible application in microscale gas sensing). This process enables the syntheses of microporous nanocrystalline silicon micro-assemblies with multifarious three-dimensional shapes inherited from biological or synthetic silica templates for sensor, electronic, optical or biomedical applications.