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Harnessing Mechanical Deformation to Reduce Spherical Aberration in Soft Lenses

Ahmad Zareei, Eder Medina, and Katia Bertoldi
Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 084301 – Published 25 February 2021
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Abstract

Mechanical deformation has recently emerged as a promising platform to realize optical devices with tunable response. While most studies to date have focused on the tuning of the focal length, here we use a combination of experiments and analyses to show that an applied tensile strain can also largely reduce spherical aberration. We first demonstrate the concept for a cylindrical elastomeric lens and then show that it is robust and valid over a range of geometries and material properties. As such, our study suggests that large mechanical deformations may provide a simple route to achieve the complex profiles required to minimize aberration and realize lenses capable of producing images of superior quality.

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  • Received 14 October 2020
  • Revised 22 December 2020
  • Accepted 25 January 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.084301

© 2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

  1. Research Areas
General Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Ahmad Zareei, Eder Medina, and Katia Bertoldi*

  • School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02148, USA

  • *bertoldi@seas.harvard.edu
  • A. Z. and E. M. contributed equally to this work.

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Issue

Vol. 126, Iss. 8 — 26 February 2021

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