Molecular orientation and converging properties simulation of liquid crystal microlenses by using 3D-FDM

Abstract

Optical properties in the liquid crystal (LC) microlenses are studied on molecular orientations with large and axially symmetrical electric field. The LC microlenses with a thick LC layer are also investigated by experiments and simulations of 3 dimensional finite difference method (3D-FDM). The LC microlens has a converging property with low applied voltage as well as a diverging property with high applied voltage. The dependence of converging property on D/t is investigated in the LC microlenses, where D/t is the ratio between a hole-pattern diameter D and LC thickness t, and the simulation by the 3D-FDM in terms of the molecular orientation state is successfully carried out. It is found that the lateral distribution of the LC molecular orientation in the thickness direction is not uniform and changes depending on the D/t ratio, and good converging properties can be obtained when the D/t value is around 2.