By SHARON MOORE

Staff Writer

The Institute for Micromanufacturing has developed and fabricated a variable-focusing microlens with a microfluidic chip.

Dr. Kody Varahramyan, a professor of electrical engineering and director of the institution, said the microlens system has a fluidic pump system that operates as an optical lens system.

"We have submitted a report of invention to the university to get the new technology patented," Varahramyan said.

Varahramyan said those at the institute also know that the system is a "real innovation" because of the reader response to the recent publication of an article in the May issue of the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering.

"The publisher called and said it was the most requested paper ever," Varahramyan said.

"The reason why people are interested is because everyone uses optical communication," senior researching engineer Ji Fang said.

Fang said photons have no charge, are wireless and travel at the speed of light, which is 186,000 miles per second.

"Nothing is faster than photon transfer," Fang said.

The new lens system could be used in optical systems that require a lens with dynamic variable focal length characteristics, Varahramyan said.

"It could be used in a wide range of applications [such as] mobile phones, security cameras, military surveillance systems and surgical instruments," Varahramyan said.

The entire lens system is smaller than a penny, and the lens itself is the size of Abraham Lincoln’s face as it appears on the coin.

The shape of the lens is determined by the amount of pressure placed on it by the fluidic chamber. The lens shape determines the focal length of the lens.

"You can have a shape that creates a panoramic view, or you can narrow it down," Varahramyan said.

Three university faculty and three doctoral students are involved in the project. In addition to Fang and Varahramyan, doctoral students Jackie Chen and Weisong Wang have contributed to research and work on the main project.

Wang, a doctoral student in engineering, said his part in research has included work on a photoresist 3D structure fabrication and microlens optical characterization.

"Finding a much simple fabrication method to generate a 3D structure for a microlens [first interested me in this project]," Wang said.

Dr. Alfred Gunaselcaran and doctoral student Mangilal Agarwal worked on a similar microsystem lens project at the institution and contributed to the main project as well.

Research was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.