Fabrication of a bionic compound eye on a curved surface by using a self-assembly technique

Abstract

Microlens arrays on curved surfaces are regarded as critical elements of bionic compound eyes (BCEs), which exhibit the comparative advantages of a wide field of view and tracking fast-moving objects. However, the fabrication of a curved microlens array is still challenging. Along these lines, in this work, a straightforward, rapid, and low-cost technique for the fabrication of curved microlens arrays is reported by using the self-assembly technique. A reactive ion etching process treated the surface of the curved polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate to generate a hydrophobic-hydrophilic pattern. Then, the curved microlens array can be realized by dewetting a liquid glue onto the substrate using the dip-coating method and followed by crosslinking. The proposed BCE structure consists of 2400 microlenses (400 - µm diameter and 440 - µm center distance) arranged in a hexagonal configuration on a curved PDMS surface (34 - mm diameter and 40.4 - mm curvature radius). A field-of-view of 50° was demonstrated, which has potential applications in various fields including imaging sensors, medical diagnostics, machine vision systems, and photodetectors.

Miniature bioinspired artificial compound eyes: microfabrication technologies, photodetection and applications

“…Secondly, in some cases, a single-layer planar lens array may not be able to meet the imaging precision requirements of compound eye, necessitating the combination of double or even multiple layers of planar or curved lens array to improve imaging quality, showcasing a complex 3D structure characteristic of compound eye (Chen et al, 2017;Lin et al, 2018;Ke et al, 2022). Finally, in order to meet the needs of the miniaturization of compound eye cameras, the adaptive integrated manufacturing of optical components and photoelectric sensors is also an important issue for compound eye, exhibiting a characteristic of micro-assembly (Viollet et al, 2014;Kuo et al, 2015;Xu et al, 2022). All the aforementioned characteristics pose significant challenges to the microfabrication of miniature compound eyes.…”

Scalable and Facile Formation of Microlenses on Curved Surfaces Enabling a Highly Customized Sustainable Solar‐Water Nexus

“…[20] By combining a flexible mask and the reactive-ion-etching process, MLs were fabricated on photo-curable resin with a curved surface. [49,50] In a multiple-templating method, MLAs on a planar substrate are first copied to a flat film of siloxane elastomer that was bent into a curved template for a second round of templating. [51,52] The technologies mentioned earlier are dependent on complicated devices [53,54] and precise control of the dosage of the materials of MLs [55] .…”

Double-Glued Multi-Focal Bionic Compound Eye Camera

“…At the moment, artificial compound eyes are facing numerous challenges, and researchers are constantly investigating new technologies and materials in order to apply artificial compound eyes to more scenes [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ] and solve problems that traditional optical systems cannot. The current research trend focuses on high-resolution compound eye lenses [ 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”