Agar-made biodegradable ball lens

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Author(s):	Rosa, Lidia O. ; Morais, Eduarda F. ; Cordeiro, Cristiano M. B. ; Fujiwara, Eric Total Authors: 4
Document type:	Journal article
Source:	APPLIED OPTICS; v. 63, n. 30, p. 6-pg., 2024-10-30.
Abstract
This work proposes the fabrication and characterization of ball lenses made of agar, a biodegradable and renewable material. Pouring a boiled solution of food-grade agar, glycerol, and water into cooled vegetable oil under agitation by a magnetic stirrer produces transparent and manipulable spheres. The glycerol concentration and rotation speed define the refractive index and size distribution, respectively, yielding lenses with diameters between 1 and 8 mm and indices ranging from 1.33 to 1.46. Experiments also characterized the output beam profile with 632 nm laser illumination. The results corroborate with the focal length simulated for a Gaussian beam model, suggesting controllable optical properties and anticipating potential applications of the agar ball lens as a biodegradable optical device for biomedical imaging, illumination, and sensing. (c) 2024 Optica Publishing Group. All rights, including for text and data mining (TDM), Artificial Intelligence (AI) training, and similar technologies, are reserved. (AU)

FAPESP's process:	23/09181-0 - Development of agar-based biodegradable optical fibers for sensing
Grantee:	Eric Fujiwara
Support Opportunities:	Regular Research Grants