Iris-like tunable aperture employing liquid-crystal elastomers

Abstract

A liquid-crystal elastomer (LCE) iris inspired by the human eye is demonstrated. With integrated polyimide-based platinum heaters, the LCE material is thermally actuated. The radial contraction direction, similar to a mammalian iris, is imprinted to the LCE by a custom-designed magnetic field. Actuation of the device is reproducible over multiple cycles and controllable at intermediate contraction states.

Keywords: irises; liquid-crystal elastomers; magnetic orientation; radial actuation; tunable apertures.