Arrayed dual-mode integrated liquid crystal microlens driven jointly by both independent signal voltages.

Abstract

A new type of liquid crystal microlens array (LCMLA) constructed by a single-layered LC material is proposed. The basic dual-mode integrated LC microlens includes a concentric microhole electrode and a central plate electrode. Compared with traditional LC microlenses driven electrically, the dual-mode integrated LC microlens presents a better light control effect, such as being flexibly adjusted between the beam convergence and divergence modes, enlarging both the tunable range of the signal voltage and the focal length and also reducing the focal spot assisted by a convex electric-field generated by the central plate electrode, acquiring a sharper beam diverging microring formed by the concave LC microlens assisted by a concave electric-field generated by the microhole electrode. At the same time, we have also verified that the electric-field filling factor of the dual-mode integrated LCMLA can be obviously increased through jointly tuning the signal voltages applied independently over both the microhole electrode and the central plate electrode. This research has laid a solid foundation for continuously developing LCMLA technology.