Fluidic microoptics with adjustable focusing and beam steering for single cell optogenetics.

Electrically controlled micron-scale liquid lenses have been designed, fabricated and demonstrated, that provide both adjustable focusing and beam steering, with the goal of applying them to optogenetic in vivo mapping of brain activity with single cell resolution. The liquid lens is formed by the interface between two immiscible liquids which are contained in a conically tapered lens cavity etched into a fused silica substrate. Interdigitated electrodes have been patterned along the sidewall of the taper to control the liquid lens curvature and tilt. Microlenses with apertures ranging in size from 30 to 80 μm were fabricated and tunable focusing ranging from 0.25 to 3 mm and beam steering of ± 1 degree have been demonstrated.