A team of researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has used a variety of materials3D printingTechnology, Direct Ink Writing (DIW), to manufacture highly customized gradient index (GRIN) glass optics.
This method allows many optical functions to be programmed directly into the flat glass assembly, which would otherwise require curved lenses. Scientists at LLNL believe that their method can provide unprecedented design flexibility for stable glass parts and see potential applications in military optics and VR glasses.
Artistic rendering of the future automated production process of customized GRIN optics, showing the multi-materials of customized optical preforms3D printing. Pictures from Jacob Long and Brian Chavez.
GRIN Optics
GRIN glass optics are an alternative to conventional conventional finished optics because their material composition inherently contains spatial gradients. As a result, a gradient can be observed in the refractive index of the GRIN optics, which means that the way light propagates through the medium is different at different points. Externally, GRIN lenses can have a completely flat surface, but can bend light and perform advanced functions similar to special curved lenses.
The most basic example of GRIN optics in nature is an eye lens, which changes its refractive index according to the ambient light level and the distance of the object being observed. Although there are mechanical changes in the work, spectacle lenses of many species change their refractive index through the concentration of structural proteins, which can form gradients for different focal points.
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Gradient index lens.Each side of the grid square is 1 mm” alt=”A series of polishes made of quartz glass doped with titanium dioxide
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A series of polishes made of quartz glass doped with titanium dioxide3D printingGradient index lens. Each side of the grid square is 1 mm. Picture from LLNL.
Various materials for advanced opticsDirect ink writing3D printingtechnology(DIW)
The core of this experiment is to actively control the ratio of the two glass inks in the paste blend.Then, the DIW device is used to deposit various blends into the original3D printingMaterial, and further densify it into glass. As the last step, the LLNL team completed the prints through conventional optical polishing to produce usable lenses. Rebecca Dylla-Spears, an LLNL scientist and lead author of the study, explained: “Once it is converted to glass, changes in the material composition will cause changes in the refractive index.” According to China3D printingNetwork understanding,
The novel method provides the team with a new way to fully control the final lens assembly spatially, so that multiple qualities such as focus and vision correction can be integrated at the same time. By implementing these functions at the material level, the size of the lens and the overall weight of the optical system can be reduced. Since the refractive index can be strictly controlled, the curved optical device can also be completely replaced by a flat lens, thereby reducing the processing cost and simplifying the assembly in a complex optical system.
Dylla-Spears concluded: “This is the first time we passed3D printingCombine two different glass materials together and demonstrate their function as optical components. Although it has been demonstrated for GRIN, this method can also be used to customize other materials or optical properties. “
Direct ink writing process of SiO2 and SiO2-TiO2. Picture from LLNL.
In a similar study earlier this year, researchers from the ICMCB-CNRS laboratory and the University of Bordeaux developed a method for3D printingPhosphate glass method. By first pulling the glass filaments with a fiber drawing tower, the researchers were able to extrude complex geometries while maintaining the photoluminescence properties of the material.
Elsewhere, scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich have previously used special resins and digital light processing technology to3D printingThe glass objects were processed. The method utilizes the phase separation of the hybrid resin containing plastic and organic molecules initiated by photopolymerization, so that the complex glass parts have higher spatial resolution and chemical composition of multiple oxides.
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