Researchers use reduced graphene oxide electrodes to build a compact electrically tunable soft lens

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London, led by Prof. James Busfield, have developed transparent electrodes made of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs), enabling a new compact, electrically tunable soft lens. The work addresses a long-standing design constraint in electrostatically actuated lenses, where opaque compliant electrodes have to be placed around the lens periphery rather than on the optical path itself.

A photo of the fabricated DEA actuator (the rGO-coated membrane with circular electrodes). Image from: Advanced Functional Materials

DEAs are soft electromechanical transducers that behave like artificial muscles: a dielectric elastomer membrane sandwiched between compliant electrodes contracts in thickness and expands laterally when an electric field is applied. They’re being explored for tunable lenses, adaptive filters, camouflage skins and other electrically reconfigurable optical devices. Most implementations, however, rely on non-transparent electrodes, forcing a separate actuation ring around the lens body and increasing the device’s footprint. Transparent compliant electrodes remove that constraint by letting the electrode sit directly on the optical axis.

A photo of the fabricated DEA actuator (the rGO-coated membrane with circular electrodes). Image from: Advanced Functional MaterialsDEAs are soft electromechanical transducers that behave like artificial muscles: a dielectric elastomer membrane sandwiched between compliant electrodes contracts in thickness and expands laterally when an electric field is applied. They’re being explored for tunable lenses, adaptive filters, camouflage skins and other electrically reconfigurable optical devices. Most implementations, however, rely on non-transparent electrodes, forcing a separate actuation ring around the lens body and increasing the device’s footprint. Transparent compliant electrodes remove that constraint by letting the electrode sit directly on the optical axis.

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