Abstract

For decades, optical components made of rigid materials have been the dominant species in both industry and academic sectors of optics. Recent advances in soft material-based microfabrication and microsystems are shifting the paradigm rapidly. Soft MEMS-based, highly deformable optical devices are vigorously expanding their application scope by countering the precision and durability of rigid optics with dynamic reconfigurability, wider range of modulation, and ease of fabrication. In fact, the field of soft material-based optics is maturing fast to the point of generating its own unique functionalities not easily attainable in rigid optics. This talk reviews the past development of soft MEMS-based highly deformable optics, survey its present thrust areas, and draws future outlooks. Emphasis will be on identifying the technological impacts exchanged between soft MEMS and photonics. Mutual impacts associated with the closely related fields of optofluidics and plasmonics are also included for completeness.

© 2015 Optical Society of America