Browsing by Author "Zheng, Zheng"

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    Adaptive optical beam steering and tuning system based on electrowetting driven fluidic rotor
    Cheng, Weifeng; Liu, Jiansheng; Zheng, Zheng; He, Xukun; Zheng, Bowen; Zhang, Hualiang; Cui, Huachen; Zheng, Xiaoyu; Zheng, Tao; Gnade, Bruce E.; Cheng, Jiangtao (2020-01-27)
    Reconfigurable beam steering components are indispensable to support optical and photonic network systems operating with high adaptability and with various functions. Currently, almost all such components are made of solid parts whose structures are rigid, and hence their functions are difficult to be reconfigured. Also, optical concentration beam steering is still a very challenging problem compared to radio frequency/microwave steering. Here we show a watermill-like beam steering system that can adaptively guide concentrating optical beam to targeted receivers. The system comprises a liquid droplet actuation mechanism based on electrowetting-on-dielectric, a superlattice-structured rotation hub, and an enhanced optical reflecting membrane. The specular reflector can be adaptively tuned within the lateral orientation of 360 degrees, and the steering speed can reach similar to 353.5 degrees s(-1). This work demonstrates the feasibility of driving a macro-size solid structure with liquid microdroplets, opening a new avenue for developing reconfigurable components such as optical switches in next-generation sensor networks.
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    A Tunable Optical Bragg Grating Filter Based on the Droplet Sagging Effect on a Superhydrophobic Nanopillar Array
    Zhang, Meng; Liu, Jiansheng; Cheng, Weifeng; Cheng, Jiangtao; Zheng, Zheng (MDPI, 2019-07-29)
    Nanostructures have been widely applied on superhydrophobic surfaces for controlling the wetting states of liquid microdroplets. Many modern optic devices including sensors are also integrated with micro- or nanostructures for function enhancement. However, it is rarely reported that both microfluidics and optics are compatibly integrated in the same nanostructures. In this paper, a novel microfluidic-controlled tunable filter composed of an array of periodic micro/nanopillars on top of a planar waveguide is proposed and numerically simulated, in which the periodic pillars endow both the Bragg grating and the superhydrophobic functions. The tunability of grating is achieved by controlling the sagging depth of a liquid droplet into the periodic pillars. Simulation results show that a narrow bandwidth of 0.4 nm and a wide wavelength tuning range over 25 nm can be achieved by such a microfluidic-based tunable optofluidic waveguide Bragg grating filter. Moreover, this proposed scheme can be easily modified as a refractive index sensor with a sensitivity of 103 nm per refractive index unit.