Microlens array (MLA) scanning systems are used in numerous applications, such as laser radar and optical communications. Excrescent light generated by overlapping divergent beams from adjacent microlenses increases with scanning angle, thereby reducing the relative aperture and affecting the MLA system resolution. The fill factor is hence proposed to characterize the relative aperture, and its effects on the modulation transfer function are analyzed. The fill factor is calculated from matrix optics paraxial ray tracing using the system parameters. The simulated results of the MLA system and theoretical calculations are in good agreement. This work can benefit the design and evaluation of MLA systems.

Conductive atomic force indentation (CAFI) was proposed to study the self-repair behaviour of the neuronal cell membrane here. CAFI was used to detect the changes of membrane potentials by performing the mechanical indentation on neurons with a conductive atomic force microscope. In the experiment, a special insulation treatment was made on the conductive probe, which turned out to be a conductive nanoelectrode, to implement the CAFI function. The mechanical properties of the neuronal cell membrane surface were tested and the membrane potential changes of neurons cultured in vitro were detected. The self-repair behaviour of the neuronal cell membrane after being punctured was investigated. The experiment results show that CAFI provides a new way for the study of self-repair behaviours of neuronal cell membranes and mechanical and electrical properties of living cells.

The microlens array (MLA) scanning system is a relatively new solution for beam scanning, and are used in numerous applications, such as laser radar and optical communications. Excrescent light generated by overlapping divergent beams from adjacent microlenses increases with scanning angle and as a result, the rays do not fill the clear aperture of the MLA. The fill factor is proposed to characterize the fill rate of beams, and its effects on the point spread function (PSF) and modulation transfer function (MTF) are analyzed, this work can benefit the design and evaluation of MLA systems.