Near-diffraction-limited tunable liquid crystal lens with simplified design

Liwei Li; Doug Bryant; Tony Van Heugten; Dwight Duston; Philip J. Bos

doi:10.1117/1.OE.52.3.035007

13 March 2013 Near-diffraction-limited tunable liquid crystal lens with simplified design

Liwei Li, Doug Bryant, Tony Van Heugten, Dwight Duston, Philip J. Bos

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 52, Issue 3, 035007 (March 2013). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.52.3.035007

Abstract

A high-efficiency tunable refractive lens based on liquid crystals with concentric electrode rings and a simple unique design of a resistor network is reported, and used to assess the performance of an optimized electrically tunable lens. It has a large number of phase control points to be able to accurately control the phase profile and produce high efficiency. The lens design uses resistors between neighboring electrodes to minimize external connections. The lens optical path difference is measured as a near perfect parabolic shape and the Strehl ratio of about 80% is obtained (comparing to a high-quality glass lens). Image evaluations show a good image quality with diffraction limited resolution, but the contrast is lowered by a large-area haze. The lens design also shows a good switching speed, and adjustable power, allowing it to be used in many applications. An example lens with a diameter of 2.4 mm and a 5 diopter tunable range is used in the evaluations.

© The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

Citation Download Citation

Liwei Li, Doug Bryant, Tony Van Heugten, Dwight Duston, and Philip J. Bos "Near-diffraction-limited tunable liquid crystal lens with simplified design," Optical Engineering 52(3), 035007 (13 March 2013). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.52.3.035007

Published: 13 March 2013

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available