Optical Performance of Commercial Liquid Lens Assemblies in Microgravity

Abstract

<p>Liquid lenses have been utilized in various applications due to their low size, weight, power, and cost. They have potential for use in space applications such as focus compensation, optical communications, and imaging systems. However, liquid lenses have not yet been evaluated for us in space environment. This work focuses on characterizing operational differences of commercially available liquid lenses from Corning Varioptic and Optotune between Earth gravity, microgravity, and hypergravity environments. Results show a linear drift in tip/tilt of 0.79 mrad and 4.13 mrad going from 1 g to 0 g for the Corning Varioptic A-39N0 lens and Optotune EL-16-40-TC-VIS lenses respectively, with lower optical aberrations in microgravity. This work is part of a wider space environment study showing that Corning Varioptic and Optotune's commercial liquid lenses withstand thermal vacuum, typical low Earth orbit ionizing radiation exposure, and effectively handle high-intensity laser power in a vacuum without significant damage.</p>

Optical performance of commercial liquid lens assemblies in microgravity

“…The deviation seems to be due to the defocus pattern that the Corning Varioptic lens forms, which smears and causes the measured encircled energy radius to deviate. The defocus pattern could be due to multiple reflection and interference at the oil and water interface on the inside surface of the lens and has been observed in previous focus sweep experiments in normal gravity environments 2 , 6 . An example of the defocus pattern is shown in Fig.…”

“…The defocus pattern could be due to multiple reflection and interference at the oil and water interface on the inside surface of the lens and has been observed in previous focus sweep experiments in normal gravity environments. 2,6 An example of the defocus pattern is shown in Fig. 14.…”

“…Their low SWaP-C and improved performance in microgravity in addition to previously studied operation in TVAC and ionizing radiation effects make them a suitable option for use in a variety of space-related applications. 6 Future work includes evaluating different control schemes to compensate for the change in tip/tilt in different gravity conditions and for closed-loop pointing and tracking.…”

“…The MOSAIC project seeks to construct a compact, nonmechanical lasercom transceiver with integrated beam steering for small satellites using liquid lenses. 2,3,5,6 The transceiver design is based on a previous design by Zohrabi 7 that utilizes a single on-axis liquid lens for divergence control and two additional liquid lenses offset in x and y for 2D steering; it was initially proposed for light detection and ranging (LIDAR).…”

“…This work is part of the development for the miniature optical steered antenna for intersatellite communication (MOSAIC) project, which aims to utilize liquid lenses for a hemispherically steering lasercom terminal for small satellites, for which reliable operation in the space environment is required. The MOSAIC project seeks to construct a compact, nonmechanical lasercom transceiver with integrated beam steering for small satellites using liquid lenses 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 . The transceiver design is based on a previous design by Zohrabi 7 that utilizes a single on-axis liquid lens for divergence control and two additional liquid lenses offset in x and y for 2D steering; it was initially proposed for light detection and ranging (LIDAR).…”