Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robots and Systems, Ministry of Education, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Yangtze Delta Region Academy, Beijing Institute of Technology, Jiaxing, People's Republic of China.
Bioinspir Biomim. 2021 Jun 22;16(4). doi: 10.1088/1748-3190/abfc2b.
An optical zoom imaging system that can vary the magnification factor without displacing the object and the image plane has been widely used. Nonetheless, conventional optical zoom imaging systems suffer from slow response, complicated configuration, vulnerability to misalignment during zoom operation, and are incompatible with miniaturized applications. This review article focuses on state-of-the-art research on novel optical zoom imaging systems that use adaptive liquid lenses. From the aspect of the configuration, according to the number of adaptive liquid lenses, we broadly divide the current optical zoom imaging systems using adaptive liquid lenses into two configurations: multiple adaptive liquid lenses, and a single adaptive liquid lens. The principles and configurations of these optical zoom imaging systems are introduced and represented. Three different working principles of the adaptive liquid lens (liquid crystal, polymer elastic membrane, and electrowetting effect) adopted in the optical zoom imaging systems are reviewed. Some representative applications of optical zoom imaging systems using adaptive liquid lenses are introduced. The opportunities and challenges of the optical zoom imaging systems using adaptive liquid lenses are also discussed. This review aims to provide a snapshot of the current state of this research field with the aim to attract more attention to put forward the development of the next-generation optical zoom imaging systems.
一种无需移动物距和像距即可改变放大倍率的光学变焦成像系统得到了广泛的应用。然而，传统的光学变焦成像系统存在响应速度慢、结构复杂、在变焦操作中容易失准以及与小型化应用不兼容等问题。本文主要关注利用自适应液体透镜的新型光学变焦成像系统的最新研究进展。从配置方面来看，根据自适应液体透镜的数量，我们将目前使用自适应液体透镜的光学变焦成像系统大致分为两种配置：多个自适应液体透镜和单个自适应液体透镜。介绍并展示了这些光学变焦成像系统的原理和配置。本文还回顾了在光学变焦成像系统中采用的三种不同的自适应液体透镜（液晶、聚合物弹性膜和电润湿效应）的工作原理。介绍了使用自适应液体透镜的光学变焦成像系统的一些代表性应用。还讨论了使用自适应液体透镜的光学变焦成像系统的机遇和挑战。本文旨在提供该研究领域的最新研究现状，以吸引更多的关注，提出下一代光学变焦成像系统的发展方向。
