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Adaptive liquid lens based on electrowetting of two immiscible liquids: a study with numerical simulation and analysis

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Abstract

The present work describes a model simulation study of electrowetting on a dielectric surface (EWOD)-based liquid lens using three distinct insulating liquids, namely, silicone oil, n-hexadecane, and n-tetradecane. The model essentially consists of a cylindrical chamber with a typical inner diameter of 3.0 mm and a height of 1.0 mm coated with two different hydrophobic dielectric surfaces, parylene-C and teflon- AF. With a 21.4 mM KCl solution employed as a conducting liquid, the interfacial layer between the two immiscible liquids was found to be modulated precisely for a critical biasing voltage, V > 90 V, switching the curvature profile from diverging to converging type. Moreover, the effects of applied voltage and dielectric layer thickness on this changeover and focal lengths were discussed for a given set of aforesaid pairs of immiscible liquids. Our simulated results and model analyses provide useful insights on the means of experimental strategies, scope, and limitations towards realization of industrial-grade designs and assets.

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Acknowledgements

We thank our peers and colleagues for their valuable suggestions and timely help.

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  1. Department of Physics, Tezpur University, Napaam, Tezpur, Assam, 784028, India

    Mahesh C. Dubey & D. Mohanta

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  1. Mahesh C. Dubey
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  2. D. Mohanta
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Correspondence to D. Mohanta.

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Dubey, M.C., Mohanta, D. Adaptive liquid lens based on electrowetting of two immiscible liquids: a study with numerical simulation and analysis. J Opt 52, 877–884 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12596-022-00920-1

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