Fabrication and Characterization of Curved Compound Eyes Based on Multifocal Microlenses

The natural compound eye system has many outstanding properties, such as a more compact size, wider-angle view, better capacity to detect moving objects, and higher sensitivity to light intensity, compared to that of a single-aperture vision system. Thanks to the development of micro- and nano-fabrication techniques, many artificial compound eye imaging systems have been studied and fabricated to inherit fascinating optical features of the natural compound eye. This paper provides a review of artificial compound eye imaging systems. This review begins by introducing the principle of the natural compound eye, and then, the analysis of two types of artificial compound eye systems. We equally present the applications of the artificial compound eye imaging systems. Finally, we suggest our outlooks about the artificial compound eye imaging system.

Section: Artificial Compound Eye Imaging System Using Microlens Arraysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial Compound Eye Systems and Their Application: A Review

Phan

Bae

et al. 2021

“…However, when a compound eye lens is prepared by jet printing technology and thermal reflow methods, due to the influence of liquid tension on the surface, the size of the ommatidia cannot be enlarged, resulting in low resolution. In the previous study from our research group, non-contact polymer hot embossing [ 49 ] was used to prepare a meniscus multifocusing compound eye. This method is simple and fast, but the contours of the ommatidia are formed by the surface tension transition of the polymer at the glass transition temperature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Meniscus Multifocusing Compound Eye Camera Based on Negative Pressure Forming Technology

Liu

Dong

et al. 2023

Self Cite

To meet the challenge of preparing a high-resolution compound eye, this paper proposes a multi-focal-length meniscus compound eye based on MEMS negative pressure molding technology. The aperture is increased, a large field of view angle of 101.14° is obtained, and the ommatidia radius of each stage is gradually increased from 250 μm to 440 μm. A meniscus structure is used to improve the imaging quality of the marginal compound eye so that its resolution can reach 36.00 lp/mm. The prepared microlenses have a uniform shape and a smooth surface, and both panoramic image stitching and moving object tracking are achieved. This technology has great potential for application in many fields, including automatic driving, machine vision, and medical endoscopy.

“…Therefore, microlens arrays can only image objects on their common focal plane, resulting in small field-of-view angles and a low depth of field. Based on the properties of microlenses with different focal lengths, the multifocal microlens array can solve the above-mentioned problems, and hence can be applied in 3D imaging systems [15][16][17][18][19]. It is difficult to integrate the above-mentioned micro-optical elements with a complicated morphology and existing MEMSs, e.g., focused ion beam technology can remove materials atom by atom.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integration of Multifocal Microlens Array on Silicon Microcantilever via Femtosecond-Laser-Assisted Etching Technology

Wang

Zheng

et al. 2022

Micro-opto-electromechanical systems (MOEMSs) are a new class of integrated and miniaturized optical systems that have significant applications in modern optics. However, the integration of micro-optical elements with complex morphologies on existing micro-electromechanical systems is difficult. Herein, we propose a femtosecond-laser-assisted dry etching technology to realize the fabrication of silicon microlenses. The size of the microlens can be controlled by the femtosecond laser pulse energy and the number of pulses. To verify the applicability of this method, multifocal microlens arrays (focal lengths of 7–9 μm) were integrated into a silicon microcantilever using this method. The proposed technology would broaden the application scope of MOEMSs in three-dimensional imaging systems.