Zoom optical system using tunable polymer lens

This paper demonstrated a zoom optical system with variable magnification based on the tunable polymer lens. The designed system mainly consists of two polymer lenses, voice coil motors, a doublet lens and CMOS chip. The zoom magnification can be adjusted by altering the focal length of the two elastic polymer lenses synergistically through controlling the output displacement of the voice coil motor. A static doublet lens in combination with the polymer lenses stabilize the image plane at the CMOS chip. The optical structure of the zoom system is presented, as well as a detailed description including the lens materials and fabrication process. Images with each zoom magnification are captured, and the Spot diagram and MTF are simulated using Zemax software. A change in magnification from 0.13×to 8.44×is demonstrated within the tiny 0.4 mm variation of the displacement load, and produce a 16.1×full range of magnification experimentally. Simulation analyses show that all the radii of the spot diagram under different magnifications are less than 11.3 um, and the modulation transfer function reaches 107 line pairs per mm. The designed optical system shows the potential for developing stable, integrated, and low-cost zoom systems with large magnification range. •We demonstrate a zoom system based on the tunable polymer lens.•The optical structure, materials and fabrication process are presented.•The deformation property and focal length of the polymer lens are measured.•Imaging experiment and optical simulation of the zoom system are analyzed.