The recent progresses made in the manufacturing of new plasmonic photomobile films are offering an innovative solution for light induced motion actuators and devices. Indeed, such films can be assimilated as transducers thanks to their ability to convert light into displacement with strokes up to several millimetres. By adjusting the incident light parameters (wavelength, exposure time…) the photomobile films actuation can be controlled to answer many applications requesting high displacements and low forces. In this regard, the behaviour of the photomobile films were characterized prior to their integration in more complex devices. Then, several proof-of-concepts of these devices were manufactured to try to bring new functionalities to the market such as light driven optical switch, optical micro-valve and deflector:
– The optical switch features interesting properties in term of electrical insulation by eliminating the dark currents responsible for noise in image sensors. It also exploits the large stroke of the photomobile films to achieve the standard electrical insulation distance versus emitter voltage.
– Light driven micro-valves/micro-pumps are suitable for delivering a small amount of fluids with high precision for example in medical devices. Using this technology, a fluid circuit can be opened and closed when light is switched from on to off (or inversely) without embedded electric power.
– Optical deflectors are used widely in optical pointing applications where fast responses and high precisions are critical. An appropriate understanding of the photomobile films behaviour enables the possibility to control the direction of the beam deflection within large angular ranges.
For more information, please read the article made for the SPIE conference “New range of light driven devices” and written by Patrick Meneroud, Jolan Gauthier, Sylvain Duc, Mathieu Thomachot, Frank Claeyssen – https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2665171
