Electrically Tunable Liquid Crystal Lens with Varifocal Capability
This article presents the design, fabrication, characterization, and performance evaluation of a varifocal liquid crystal (LC) lens with an inhomogeneous cell gap. The prototype employs a LC compound with high birefringence and features an optimized multilayered glass-electrode-LC configuration with a device’s thickness under 1 mm, demonstrating a remarkable power tunability range of −0.44 to −2.84 diopter (D) under low voltage operation. Also, we introduce a wireless powering method to enhance the mobility and durability of the device. This ultrathin and smart lens design eliminates the need for mechanical actuation and complex control systems, offering significant potential for applications in the next generation solution of optical devices such as detachable lenses, smart contact lenses, and augmented reality systems.
Authors
- Zhuxuan Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8531-6935)
- Shixiao Li
- Ling Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4045-7457)
- Jin Wen Qian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3597-5460)
- Shaoxing Qu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1217-4644)
- Qidong Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6121-7906)
- Yihao Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3317-1995)
- Z. Zhang
- Mengqi He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3796-7175)
Institutions
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instruments (CN)
- Zhejiang University (CN)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Applied Optical Materials
- Published
- 2024-10-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaom.4c00339
- Primary Topic
- Liquid Crystal Research Advancements
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China