Abstract
In this work, a novel technique to create positive-negative tunable liquid crystal lenses is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. This structure is based on two main elements, a transmission line acting as a voltage divider and concentric electrodes that distribute the voltage homogeneously across the active area. This proposal avoids all disadvantages of previous techniques, involving much simpler fabrication process (a single lithographic step) and voltage control (one or two sources). In addition, low voltage signals are required. Lenses with switchable positive and negative focal lengths and a simple, low voltage control are demonstrated. Moreover, by using this technique other optical devices could be engineered, e.g. axicons, Powell lenses, cylindrical lenses, Fresnel lenses, beam steerers, optical vortex generators, etc. For this reason, the proposed technique could open new venues of research in optical phase modulation based on liquid crystal materials.
Highlights
We propose a novel indium titanium oxide (ITO)-on-glass micrometric structure capable of creating large aperture lenses with simple voltage control and homogenous distribution of the voltage
The novelty of the proposal resides in a micro-structured ITO transmission line, combined with concentric electrodes designed to distribute the voltage homogenously across the entire surface of the device
The theoretical study reveals that an optical power of 5.7D would be possible for a device with 100 μm thick and an aperture of 1 cm
Summary
Considering the previous statements, it is required to find a specific design capable of producing a high optical power with a simple design and voltage control. The idea behind this work, is based on micrometric gaps that make a commercial ITO substrate behave as high resistivity layer, without the disadvantage of complex fabrication This micrometric structure is based on two main elements, a transmission line, Fig. 1(a), acting as a voltage divider, and concentric electrodes, Fig. 1(b), which distribute the voltage homogeneously across the active area. The concentric electrodes (crossing perpendicular to the transmission line), distribute the voltage across the active area (acting equivalently to the high resistivity layer in a modal lens). These electrodes are only connected to R1.
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