Researchers have developed new 3D-printed microlenses with adjustable refractive indices – a property that gives them highly specialized light-focusing abilities. This advancement is poised to improve imaging, computing and communications by significantly increasing the data-routing capability of computer chips and other optical systems, the researchers said.

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The study was led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers Paul Braun and Lynford Goddard and is the first to demonstrate the ability to adjust the direction in which light bends and travels through a lens with sub-micrometer precision. The results of the study are published in the journal Light: Science and Application. “Having the ability to fabricate optics with different shapes and optical parameters offers a solution to common problems faced in optics,” said Braun, who is a professor of materials science and engineering . “For example, in imaging applications, focusing on a specific object often results in blurry […]

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