Electrically controlled liquid-crystal microlens arrays based on plane nonuniform spiral microcoils

Xinjie Han; Wanwan Dai; Junjie Meng; Xingwang Xie; Zhaowei Xin; Dong Wei; Mingce Chen; Xinyu Zhang; Haiwei Wang; Changsheng Xie

doi:10.1117/12.2505477

15 November 2018 Electrically controlled liquid-crystal microlens arrays based on plane nonuniform spiral microcoils

Xinjie Han, Wanwan Dai, Junjie Meng, Xingwang Xie, Zhaowei Xin, Dong Wei, Mingce Chen, Xinyu Zhang, Haiwei Wang, Changsheng Xie

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10964, Tenth International Conference on Information Optics and Photonics; 109641T (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2505477
Event: Tenth International Conference on Information Optics and Photonics (CIOP 2018), 2018, Beijing, China

Abstract

In this paper, a new type of electrically controlled liquid-crystal microlens arrays (ECLCMAs) based on plane nonuniform spiral microcoils (PNSMs) is proposed. The microlens array is based on a nematic liquid-crystal material, which presents a special characteristics of optical anisotropy and birefringence, and is fabricated by common ultraviolet lithography and dry ICP etching process to form needed PNSMs pattern. In the ECLCMAs, a glass substrate precoated by a film of indium tin oxide (ITO) on both surfaces of substrate is adopted. The key center electrode for shaping each functioned LC cell is drilled using a laser etching and emery polishing process. Metallic indium particles are selected to connect the upper and lower ITO layers. The design can guarantee the continuity of the upper and lower plates and does not affect the electric and magnetic fields generated by spiral microcoils, which are utilized to drive LC film to present needed functions of further controlling and adjusting incident microbeam distribution, which is preprocessed by main objective lens system. After an AC voltage signal is applied across the microcoil, an effective electromagnetic field can be formed in LC cell so as to drive LC molecules to rotate and thus demonstrates an electrically tuning focus. The simulations show that the design of patterned PNSMs can be effectively used to form a sufficient electric and magnetic fields that are directly used to rotate LC molecules and thus form a gradient refractive index distribution for converging incident microbeams so as to show a higher controlling-light efficiency than that of traditional patterned microelectrodes. The proposed method laid a solid foundation for future smart ECLCMAs.

Citation Download Citation

Xinjie Han, Wanwan Dai, Junjie Meng, Xingwang Xie, Zhaowei Xin, Dong Wei, Mingce Chen, Xinyu Zhang, Haiwei Wang, and Changsheng Xie "Electrically controlled liquid-crystal microlens arrays based on plane nonuniform spiral microcoils", Proc. SPIE 10964, Tenth International Conference on Information Optics and Photonics, 109641T (15 November 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2505477

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

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
5 PAGES

DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Get copyright permission Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace

KEYWORDS

Liquid crystals

Molecules

Magnetism

Microlens array

Electrodes

Refractive index

Microlens

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years