Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 14, 2026

Fabrication Process of Silicone-based Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
Published on: February 1, 2016
Variable aperture stop based on the design of a single chamber silicone membrane lens with integrated actuation
Jan Draheim1, Tobias Burger, Jan G Korvink
1Laboratory for Microactuators, Department of Microsystems Engineering - IMTEK, University of Freiburg, Georges-Koehler-Allee 102, 79110 Freiburg, Germany. jan.draheim@imtek.uni‐freiburg.de
Abstract:
In this Letter we report on the fabrication and testing of an extremely thin variable aperture stop based on the design of a single chamber adaptive membrane lens with integrated actuation. The aperture consists of a ring-shaped piezoelectric bending actuator with an elastic silicone membrane in the center. The formed cavity is filled with a nontransparent fluid and sealed with a glass platelet. In a voltage range up to 80 V, an opening of the aperture of 4.55 mm in diameter is obtained. The transmission in comparison to a standard mechanical aperture stop is maximum 6% lower.

