Abstract
This paper proposes an effective approach to fabricate a blue phase liquid crystal (BPLC) microlens array based on a photoconductive film. Owing to the characteristics of photo-induced conducting polymer polyvinylcarbazole (PVK), in which conductivity depends on the irradiation of UV light, a progressive mask resulting in the variation of conductivity is adopted to produce the gradient distribution of the electric field. The reorientations of liquid crystals according to the gradient distribution of the electric field induce the variation of the refractive index. Thus, the incident light experiences the gradient distribution of the refractive index and results in the focusing phenomenon. The study investigates the dependence of lens performance on UV exposure time, the focal length of the lens, and focusing intensities with various incident polarizations. The BPLC microlens array exhibits advantages such as electrically tunability, polarization independence, and fast response time.
Highlights
Liquid crystal (LC) lenses have extensive applications in many optical devices, such as optical communication [1], projection displays [2], signal processing to three-dimensional displays [3], data storage systems [4], and tunable photonic devices [1,5]
To overcome the polarization dependence of conventional LC lens, polymer-stabilized blue-phase liquid crystals (PSBPLCs) and the Kerr effect have been considered as the better candidates [10,24]
This paper presents a simple method to produce a blue phase liquid crystal (BPLC) microlens array with a photoconductive film polyvinylcarbazole (PVK)
Summary
Liquid crystal (LC) lenses have extensive applications in many optical devices, such as optical communication [1], projection displays [2], signal processing to three-dimensional displays [3], data storage systems [4], and tunable photonic devices [1,5]. Gradient-index (GRIN) lens using LCs have attracted attention, possessing advantages such as planar surface structure and a smaller issue of LC alignment [5], simple fabrication process, and electrically induced non-uniform distribution of the LC directors [6,7,8]. BPLC lenses have been displayed experimentally with a fast response time [20], simple fabrication process [21], and the polarization-independent property [22,23]. To overcome the polarization dependence of conventional LC lens, polymer-stabilized blue-phase liquid crystals (PSBPLCs) and the Kerr effect have been considered as the better candidates [10,24]. Polymers 2020, 12, 65 in the variation of conductivity on PVK, and the focusing effect and the tuning capability can be realized by the gradient distribution of the electric field. The proposed BPLC microlens exhibits independent polarization and fast response features
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