Liquid-crystal microlens with a beam-steering function

Masuda, Shin; Takahashi, Sounosuke; Nose, Toshiaki; Sato, Susumu; Ito, Hiromasa

doi:10.1364/ao.36.004772

Cited by 99 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Various approaches for fabricating LC microlens array have been proposed. The common is to create a gradient refractive index distribution among LC directors either by an inhomogeneous electric field [9,10,[15][16][17]20,22,23,54] or by an inhomogeneous LC morphology [11][12][13][14]18,19,21,55,56].…”

Section: Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are expected to be essential optical devices with widespread applications. Generally speaking, LC lenses can be divided into two categories according to their aperture size: those with a large aperture size (>1 mm) are suitable for portable devices, such as pico projectors, imaging system for cell phones, endoscopic system, and ophthalmic lenses [4][5][6][7][8], while those with a small aperture size (<1 mm) are suitable for microlens arrays and their applications include image processing [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], optical communication [20,21], lab on a chip, switchable 2D/3D displays [22,23], etc. The progresses of LC lenses with a large aperture size have been reviewed by Fowler et al in 1990 [24] and more recently by Lin et al in 2011 [25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fast-Response Liquid Crystal Microlens

Liu

et al. 2014

Micromachines

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Electrically tunable liquid crystal microlenses have attracted strong research attention due to their advantages of tunable focusing, voltage actuation, low power consumption, simple fabrication, compact structure, and good stability. They are expected to be essential optical devices with widespread applications. However, the slow response time of nematic liquid crystal (LC) microlenses has been a significant technical barrier to practical applications and commercialization. LC/polymer composites, consisting of LC and monomer, are an important extension of pure LC systems, which offer more flexibility and much richer functionality than LC alone. Due to the anchoring effect of a polymer network, microlenses, based on LC/polymer composites, have relatively fast response time in comparison with pure nematic LC microlenses. In addition, polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystal (PS-BPLC) based on Kerr effect is emerging as a promising candidate for new photonics application. The major attractions of PS-BPLC are submillisecond response time and no need for surface alignment layer. In this paper, we review two types of fast-response microlenses based on LC/polymer composites: polymer dispersed/stabilized nematic LC and polymer-stabilized blue phase LC. Their basic operating principles are introduced and recent progress is reviewed by examples from recent literature. Finally, the major challenges and future perspectives are discussed. OPEN ACCESSMicromachines 2014, 5 301

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Section: Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fast-Response Liquid Crystal Microlens

Liu

et al. 2014

Micromachines

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“…7). It is also possible to combine tip/tilt and lensing function within a single LC-element as proposed in [15]. …”

Section: Design Considerations For a Combined Planar Integrated Free-mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tuneable Planar Integrated Optical Systems

Amberg¹,

Oeder²,

Sinzinger³

et al. 2007

Opt. Express

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“…The LC devices have been developed for tunable optical devices with functions of variable focal length with preserving a good lens property (Sato 1979;Ye and Sato 2002;Ye et al 2008), laser-beam steering control (Masuda et al 1997;Ye et al 2006), controllable spherical aberration and astigmatic properties Kawamura et al 2008a). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laser Manipulation by Using Liquid Crystal Devices with Variable-Focusing and Beam-Steering Functions

Kawamura

Onishi

Sato

2009

International Journal of Optomechatronics

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A laser manipulation system for trapping and controlling the positions of microscopic transparent particles by using liquid crystal (LC) devices is developed. The LC device has functions of variable-focusing and beam-steering by controlling the applied voltages to the LC device without mechanical movements. The trapped particles suspended in deionized water can easily be shifted along the position of the focused laser spot. The microscopic rod-like particles can also be shifted and rotated in the clockwise or anticlockwise along the direction of the major axis of the elliptically distributed beam intensity. In addition, the multiple microscopic particles at the bright region of the linear interference fringe patterns of the LC device with comb-shaped electrodes can be trapped and shifted along the fringe patterns.

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Liquid-crystal microlens with a beam-steering function

Cited by 99 publications

References 12 publications

Fast-Response Liquid Crystal Microlens

Fast-Response Liquid Crystal Microlens

Tuneable Planar Integrated Optical Systems

Laser Manipulation by Using Liquid Crystal Devices with Variable-Focusing and Beam-Steering Functions

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