Abstract
Liquid lenses have been utilized in various applications due to their
low size, weight, power, and cost. They have potential for use in space
applications such as focus compensation, optical communications, and
imaging systems. However, liquid lenses have not yet been evaluated for
us in space environment. This work focuses on characterizing operational
differences of commercially available liquid lenses from Corning
Varioptic and Optotune between Earth gravity, microgravity, and
hypergravity environments. Results show a linear drift in tip/tilt of
0.79 mrad and 4.13 mrad going from 1 g to 0 g for the Corning Varioptic
A-39N0 lens and Optotune EL-16-40-TC-VIS lenses respectively, with lower
optical aberrations in microgravity. This work is part of a wider space
environment study showing that Corning Varioptic and Optotune’s
commercial liquid lenses withstand thermal vacuum, typical low Earth
orbit ionizing radiation exposure, and effectively handle high-intensity
laser power in a vacuum without significant damage.