CN110596968A - Variable-focus arc-shaped cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens - Google Patents

Variable-focus arc-shaped cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens Download PDF

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Publication number
CN110596968A
CN110596968A CN201910810008.7A CN201910810008A CN110596968A CN 110596968 A CN110596968 A CN 110596968A CN 201910810008 A CN201910810008 A CN 201910810008A CN 110596968 A CN110596968 A CN 110596968A
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China
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liquid crystal
lens
layer
crystal molecules
lower electrode
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肖红周
姜海明
谢康
唐常钦
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Guangdong University of Technology
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Guangdong University of Technology
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
    • G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
    • G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
    • G02F1/13—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
    • G02F1/133—Constructional arrangements; Operation of liquid crystal cells; Circuit arrangements
    • G02F1/1333—Constructional arrangements; Manufacturing methods
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
    • G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
    • G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
    • G02F1/13—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
    • G02F1/133—Constructional arrangements; Operation of liquid crystal cells; Circuit arrangements
    • G02F1/1333—Constructional arrangements; Manufacturing methods
    • G02F1/1337—Surface-induced orientation of the liquid crystal molecules, e.g. by alignment layers
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
    • G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
    • G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
    • G02F1/13—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
    • G02F1/133—Constructional arrangements; Operation of liquid crystal cells; Circuit arrangements
    • G02F1/1333—Constructional arrangements; Manufacturing methods
    • G02F1/1337—Surface-induced orientation of the liquid crystal molecules, e.g. by alignment layers
    • G02F1/133711—Surface-induced orientation of the liquid crystal molecules, e.g. by alignment layers by organic films, e.g. polymeric films
    • G02F1/133723—Polyimide, polyamide-imide
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
    • G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
    • G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
    • G02F1/13—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
    • G02F1/133—Constructional arrangements; Operation of liquid crystal cells; Circuit arrangements
    • G02F1/1333—Constructional arrangements; Manufacturing methods
    • G02F1/1343—Electrodes
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
    • G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
    • G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
    • G02F1/13—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
    • G02F1/133—Constructional arrangements; Operation of liquid crystal cells; Circuit arrangements
    • G02F1/1333—Constructional arrangements; Manufacturing methods
    • G02F1/1343—Electrodes
    • G02F1/13439—Electrodes characterised by their electrical, optical, physical properties; materials therefor; method of making

Abstract

The invention discloses a variable-focus arc-shaped columnar cavity structure liquid crystal lens which comprises an upper electrode, a lower electrode, an orientation layer, a first protective layer, a liquid crystal layer, a second protective layer and a voltage driving module. The liquid crystal poured into the liquid crystal box is made into a uniform arc column shape, and after the liquid crystal is poured, liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal box are uniformly distributed according to the arc column filling space, so that the liquid crystal molecules have a certain deflection angle when an external electric field is not applied. I.e. it is equivalent to a pre-treatment of the liquid crystal molecules with a deflection angle. When zooming in a larger range is needed subsequently, the liquid crystal molecules need to rotate by a larger angle through an external voltage, and the angle is increased on the basis of the existing liquid crystal molecules with a certain deflection angle, so that the voltage of an applied external electric field can be relatively reduced; compared with the prior art, the voltage applied when the horizontal liquid crystal molecules rotate for the same degree is larger than that of the invention, and the response speed is slower than that of the invention.

Description

Variable-focus arc-shaped cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens
Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of liquid crystal lenses, in particular to a variable-focal-length liquid crystal lens with an arc-shaped columnar cavity structure.
Background
With the continuous development of science and technology and the continuous deepening of research, people's work research and many fields of daily life have more and higher requirements on lenses, especially on focus-adjustable lenses.
As is well known, the focal length of a conventional lens is fixed, and therefore, the conventional zoom system is composed of a plurality of lenses having different focal lengths and a single focal length, and requires mechanical focusing. Such a zoom system has various disadvantages, such as complicated structure, complicated operation, high operation requirement, complicated manufacturing process, high cost, and further, it is unsatisfactory that the zoom range is limited, and the zoom requirement of various works cannot be satisfied, thereby greatly limiting the development and application thereof. The appearance of the electrically controlled zoom liquid crystal lens solves a plurality of problems of the traditional zoom lens or zoom system to a great extent. The electrically controlled zoom liquid crystal lens utilizes the electro-optic effect (electrically controlled birefringence effect) of liquid crystal, i.e. the arrangement direction of liquid crystal molecules is changed by applying an electric field to make the refractive index n of the corresponding extraordinary rayeRefractive index n continuously changing to ordinary lightoThe orientation of liquid crystal molecules in the box is controlled by voltage, the refractive index is changed, the focal length is correspondingly adjusted, and the purpose of realizing the function of the lens is achieved.
Specifically, because liquid crystals have crystal heterogeneity, that is, when a light beam passes through a liquid crystal layer, the light beam is divided into two light beams with different polarization directions: and the light o and the light e, wherein the light o is ordinary light, and the light e is extraordinary light. When the o light propagates in the liquid crystal, the refractive index is constant no matter which direction the o light is directed to, and the e light just opposite to the o light vibrates in a direction perpendicular to the o light, so that the o light has different refractive indexes when propagating in different directions. Because of this, when an electric field is applied to the liquid crystal, the director of some liquid crystal molecules tends to be oriented along the direction of the electric field, so that the deflection angle of the director of the liquid crystal molecules will change with the change of the voltage, and the equivalent refractive indexes in the same direction will be different, thereby forming a gradient refractive index, and when the polarized light is incident, the polarized light will be converged or diverged. It is the combination of these characteristics that the liquid crystal lens has the function of electrically controlled zooming. In brief, under the action of an electric field, liquid crystal molecules are turned, and the liquid crystal molecules generate different refractive indexes, so that polarized light passing through a lens is refracted to achieve a focusing effect, electric control zooming is realized, the zooming range can be controlled through the voltage, and the specific working principle is shown in fig. 5. The structure of the zoom lens is simpler and more miniaturized, the zoom lens is simple and easy to manufacture and low in cost, zooming is flexible, the zoom lens has multiple zoom levels, and zooming is more convenient, accurate and fine. The electric control zoom liquid crystal lens is also a research hotspot rapidly, is widely and abundantly applied and has replaced the traditional zoom lens in many fields.
The zoom liquid crystal lenses developed today are of many kinds and are also expanding in application fields and functions. As in the field of scientific research there are many variable-focus liquid crystal lenses: single circular hole electrode type, strip electrode type, circular ring-disk electrode type, single or double layer type liquid crystal lens, etc.; a light field microscope liquid crystal lens, an endoscope liquid crystal lens, and the like in the medical field; 3D display type liquid crystal lenses in entertainment life, naked eye 3D liquid crystal lens display devices and the like. Liquid crystal lenses have found considerable application in many fields.
However, since some key technical problems of the liquid crystal lens are not solved and perfected, further application of the liquid crystal lens is limited. Problems encountered and constantly improving by many researchers today are the drive voltage of the variable-focus liquid crystal lens being too large, the focus range not being large enough, and the response speed not being fast enough. Accordingly, further improvements and improvements are needed in the art.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to overcome the defects of the prior art and provide the variable-focus arc-shaped cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens which is simple in structure, lower in driving voltage and higher in response speed.
The purpose of the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:
a variable-focus arc-shaped columnar cavity liquid crystal lens mainly comprises an upper electrode, a lower electrode, an orientation layer enabling liquid crystal molecules to be oriented and arranged according to a required direction, a first protection layer used for protecting the liquid crystal lens, a liquid crystal layer, a second protection layer used for supporting and fixing a liquid crystal layer structure, and a voltage driving module.
Specifically, the upper electrode and the lower electrode are arranged in parallel, and a round hole is formed in the middle of the lower electrode. The liquid crystal layer is arranged between the upper electrode and the lower electrode, the liquid crystal layer is of an upwards arched arc-shaped columnar structure, the bottom of the liquid crystal layer is arranged on the lower electrode, the top of the liquid crystal layer is tangent to the upper electrode, and the middle of the liquid crystal layer is of a hollow structure. The orientation layers are respectively arranged at the outer side and the inner side of the liquid crystal layer and wrap the liquid crystal layer. The first protective layer is arranged on the outer side of the liquid crystal lens and respectively positioned on the upper side of the upper electrode and the lower side of the lower electrode to wrap the liquid crystal lens. The second protective layer is arranged between the upper electrode and the lower electrode, and fills the gap between the upper electrode and the lower electrode and maintains the structure of the arc-shaped columnar liquid crystal layer not to deform. Two ends of the voltage driving module are respectively electrically connected with the upper electrode and the lower electrode so as to apply voltage to change the arrangement direction of the molecules in the liquid crystal layer.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the upper electrode and the lower electrode both have a plate electrode structure.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the upper electrode and the lower electrode are both transparent circular ITO (Indium tin oxide) electrodes.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the alignment layer is made of PI (Polyimide) material.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first protective layer and the second protective layer are both made of optical glass materials.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the liquid crystal layer is made of a nematic liquid crystal material.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, liquid crystal molecules having a long rod-like molecular structure are used in the liquid crystal layer.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the diameter of the circular hole is set to be 2mm to 4 mm. Preferably, the diameter of the circular hole is set to be 3 mm.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the first protective layer is within 1 mm.
The working process and principle of the invention are as follows: according to the invention, through the design of the arc-shaped columnar liquid crystal filling cavity, liquid crystal molecules are aligned according to the shape of the arc-shaped columnar cavity through the PI alignment layer, so that the liquid crystal molecules have a certain angle in an initial state, in short, the liquid crystal molecules are pretreated, and the initial state of the whole liquid crystal lens is equal to the state that the liquid crystal molecules rotate a certain angle when a certain voltage is applied to the flat liquid crystal lens; when no voltage is applied, the liquid crystal zoom lens has a focusing effect in an initial state due to the initial deflection angle of liquid crystal molecules when a beam of polarized light enters the liquid crystal lens because of the pretreatment of the arc-shaped cylindrical hollow shell; when external voltage is applied, the liquid crystal molecules subjected to preprocessing can be further deflected, so that a further zooming effect is realized on the basis of initial focusing, and the driving voltage and the response speed of the liquid crystal lens can be obviously reduced. The angle of the pretreatment can be changed according to the lens and the actual requirement, but the angle of the pretreatment is not too large, and the too large angle of the pretreatment can cause the focusing range of the whole lens to be seriously reduced, thereby greatly influencing the focusing function and the practicability of the liquid crystal lens. Because the preprocessing angle is too large, the liquid crystal lens directly shows that the deflection angle of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal lens is large, and the space of the rotation angle of the liquid crystal molecules which are regulated and controlled by the voltage subsequently is reduced, so that the focusing range is reduced. The invention also has the advantages of simple structure, convenient operation and easy implementation.
Compared with the prior art, the invention also has the following advantages:
(1) the variable-focus arc-shaped cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens provided by the invention can further apply the driving voltage to make the liquid crystal molecules turn on the basis of a certain angle, so that the driving voltage is lower when the liquid crystal molecules rotate at the same angle as that of the flat liquid crystal zoom lens, and the response speed of the lens can be correspondingly improved.
(2) Compared with the prior flat liquid crystal lens, the variable-focus arc-shaped columnar cavity structure liquid crystal provided by the invention is equivalent to the pretreatment of a deflection angle on liquid crystal molecules, so that the driving voltage of the variable-focus arc-shaped columnar cavity structure liquid crystal is reduced, and the response speed of the liquid crystal lens is improved.
(3) Compared with a concave liquid crystal lens or a convex liquid crystal lens, the variable-focus arc-shaped columnar cavity liquid crystal lens provided by the invention can solve the problem that liquid crystal molecules are distributed unevenly at the middle part and two ends of the concave-convex liquid crystal lens, is more favorable for transmitting and focusing light, and can also weaken or eliminate the problems of poor focusing effect and imaging distortion caused by uneven liquid crystal distribution.
(4) The variable-focus arc-shaped cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens provided by the invention has a simple structure in the manufacturing aspect, and the electrode design and the technical means such as liquid crystal filling, box sealing and the like can directly follow the existing mature methods and means, thereby solving a plurality of problems for manufacturing the lens.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a variable focus curved cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens provided by the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a variable focus arc-shaped cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens provided by the invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a liquid crystal molecule refractive index ellipsoid provided by the present invention.
Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the degree of refraction of the liquid crystal lens before and after voltage is applied.
Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the degree of refraction of light before and after applying a voltage to a conventional planar/flat liquid crystal lens.
The reference numerals in the above figures illustrate:
the liquid crystal display panel comprises 1-an upper electrode, 2-a lower electrode, 3-an orientation layer, 4-a first protective layer, 5-a liquid crystal layer, 6-a second protective layer, 7-a voltage driving module and 8-a circular hole.
Detailed Description
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer and clearer, the present invention is further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples.
Example 1:
as shown in fig. 1 to 4, the present embodiment discloses a variable focus arc-shaped cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens, which mainly includes an upper electrode 1, a lower electrode 2, an alignment layer 3 for aligning liquid crystal molecules according to a desired direction, a first protective layer 4 for protecting the liquid crystal lens, a liquid crystal layer 5, a second protective layer 6 for supporting and fixing the structure of the liquid crystal layer 5, and a voltage driving module 7.
Specifically, the upper electrode 1 and the lower electrode 2 are arranged in parallel, and a circular hole 8 is formed in the middle of the lower electrode 2. The liquid crystal layer 5 is positioned between the upper electrode 1 and the lower electrode 2, the liquid crystal layer 5 is of an upwards arched arc-shaped columnar structure, the bottom of the liquid crystal layer is arranged on the lower electrode 2, the top of the liquid crystal layer is tangent to the upper electrode 1, and the middle of the liquid crystal layer is of a hollow structure. The alignment layers 3 are respectively disposed at outer and inner positions of the liquid crystal layer 5, and wrap the liquid crystal layer 5. The first protective layer 4 is arranged on the outer side of the liquid crystal lens and respectively positioned on the upper side of the upper electrode 1 and the lower side of the lower electrode 2 to wrap the liquid crystal lens. The second protective layer 6 is disposed between the upper electrode 1 and the lower electrode 2, and fills the gap between the upper and lower electrodes 2 and maintains the structure of the arc-shaped columnar liquid crystal layer 5 not to be deformed. The two ends of the voltage driving module 7 are electrically connected to the upper electrode 1 and the lower electrode 2, respectively, to apply a voltage to change the arrangement direction of the molecules in the liquid crystal layer 5.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the upper electrode 1 and the lower electrode 2 both have a plate electrode structure.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, transparent circular ITO (Indium tin oxide) electrodes are used as the upper electrode 1 and the lower electrode 2.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the alignment layer 3 is made of PI (Polyimide) material.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first protective layer 4 and the second protective layer 6 are made of optical glass materials.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the liquid crystal layer 5 is made of a nematic liquid crystal material.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, liquid crystal molecules having a long rod-like molecular structure are used in the liquid crystal layer 5.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the diameter of the circular hole 8 is set to be 2mm to 4 mm. Preferably, the diameter of the circular hole 8 is set to 3 mm.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the first protective layer 4 is set to be within 1 mm.
The working process and principle of the invention are as follows: according to the invention, through the design of the arc-shaped columnar liquid crystal filling cavity, liquid crystal molecules are aligned according to the shape of the arc-shaped columnar cavity through the PI alignment layer 3, so that the liquid crystal molecules have a certain angle in the initial state, in short, the liquid crystal molecules are pretreated, so that the initial state of the whole liquid crystal lens is equal to the state that the liquid crystal molecules rotate a certain angle when a certain voltage is applied to the flat liquid crystal lens, and the actual working state principle of the liquid crystal zoom lens is shown in figure 4: when no voltage is applied, the liquid crystal zoom lens has a focusing effect in an initial state due to the initial deflection angle of liquid crystal molecules when a beam of polarized light enters the liquid crystal lens because of the pretreatment of the arc-shaped cylindrical hollow shell; when external voltage is applied, the liquid crystal molecules subjected to preprocessing can be further deflected, so that a further zooming effect is realized on the basis of initial focusing, and the driving voltage and the response speed of the liquid crystal lens can be obviously reduced. The angle of the pretreatment can be changed according to the lens and the actual requirement, but the angle of the pretreatment is not too large, and the too large angle of the pretreatment can cause the focusing range of the whole lens to be seriously reduced, thereby greatly influencing the focusing function and the practicability of the liquid crystal lens. Because the preprocessing angle is too large, the liquid crystal lens directly shows that the deflection angle of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal lens is large, and the space of the rotation angle of the liquid crystal molecules which are regulated and controlled by the voltage subsequently is reduced, so that the focusing range is reduced. The invention also has the advantages of simple structure, convenient operation and easy implementation.
Example 2:
the embodiment discloses a variable-focus liquid crystal lens, which comprises: an upper electrode 1, a lower electrode 2, an upper PI layer, a lower PI layer (a liquid crystal orientation layer 3), a glass protective layer, a nematic liquid crystal and an external voltage driving module 7.
The upper electrode 1 is a transparent ITO (Indium tin oxide, Indium zinc oxide) circular electrode that can be etched according to the requirement. The ITO has the excellent characteristics of strong conductive capability, high transmittance and the like, has high transparency to visible light, has the transmittance of more than 80 percent, and is particularly suitable for conductive electrodes of liquid crystal lenses.
The lower electrode 2 is a commonly used circular hole 8ITO circular electrode capable of providing the required electric field.
The alignment layer 3 is a PI (Polyimide) alignment layer 3 laid along the arc-shaped columnar liquid crystal filling cavity, and can align liquid crystal molecules according to the arc-shaped columnar cavity or an actually required direction. The intrinsic liquid crystal molecules are randomly aligned, and therefore, an alignment layer 3 needs to be added on the surface of the liquid crystal layer 5 to make the initial alignment of the liquid crystal molecules uniform. When no driving voltage is applied, the arrangement of the director of the liquid crystal molecules tends to the preset direction so as to enable the initial free energy to be the minimum, after the external driving voltage is applied, the director of the liquid crystal molecules turns along with the external electric field, the anchoring force on the surfaces of the liquid crystal molecules is balanced with the action of the external electric field so as to keep the whole free energy to be the minimum, and the method provides help for the subsequent voltage to change the deflection angle of the liquid crystal molecules.
The glass protective layer comprises an upper glass substrate, a lower glass substrate and other glass spacer parts made of the same materials except the arc-shaped columnar cavity part, the light transmittance of the glass material is quite high, and the glass protective layer can play a role in protecting liquid crystals and standardizing the shape of the whole lens and meanwhile cannot generate large interference on incident light.
The liquid crystal adopts common nematic liquid crystal with stable and excellent performance.
The voltage driving module 7 provides a zoom voltage for the lens, is connected with the upper electrode 1 and the lower electrode 2, and can provide different voltages for changing the focal length of the lens by connecting the electrodes with an external driving circuit. The cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal zoom lens is shown in fig. 2, fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a principle of a liquid crystal molecule refractive index ellipsoid, and fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an operation principle of the liquid crystal lens of the present invention.
The refraction and focusing phenomena of the polarized light after the light is injected into the liquid crystal can be explained by a liquid crystal refractive index ellipsoid: as shown in fig. 4, the liquid crystal molecules used in the present invention have a long rod-like molecular structure and are excellent in positive single-axis photoelectric properties, and the liquid crystal molecules described above have a property of changing their alignment in response to a change in electric field. Therefore, the liquid crystal zoom lens mainly utilizes the non-uniform electric field generated by the round hole 8 electrode to enable the arrangement deflection angle of the liquid crystal molecules to generate a gradient change, so that the refractive index of the liquid crystal molecules generates a gradient change and presents a refractive index gradient distribution similar to a lens. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a liquid crystal molecule refractive index ellipsoid, in which when light is incident on the liquid crystal molecules along different directions, the refractive indexes are different, that is, when the deflection angle of the liquid crystal molecules is changed, the obtained refractive indexes are different after the light is incident on the liquid crystal. When the polarization direction of incident light is parallel to the long axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules, the refractive index is ne(ii) a When the polarization direction of incident light is perpendicular to the long axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules, the refractive index is noWhen the angle between the polarization direction of incident light and the long axis of the liquid crystal molecules is theta, the refractive index is neff(θ), the expression of which is as follows:
wherein: in the formula no≤neff(θ)≤ne，neRepresents a refractive index when the polarization direction of incident light is parallel to the long axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules; n isoIndicating a refractive index when the polarization direction of incident light is perpendicular to the long axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules; θ represents the angle between the polarization direction of the incident light and the long axis of the liquid crystal molecules.
From the above, it can be seen that the operation of the liquid crystal zoom lens of the present invention is schematically illustrated in fig. 4.
According to the invention, through the design of the arc-shaped columnar liquid crystal filling cavity, liquid crystal molecules are aligned according to the shape of the arc-shaped columnar cavity through the PI alignment layer 3, so that the liquid crystal molecules have a certain angle in the initial state, in short, the liquid crystal molecules are pretreated, so that the initial state of the whole liquid crystal lens is equal to the state that the liquid crystal molecules rotate a certain angle when a certain voltage is applied to the flat liquid crystal lens, and the actual working state principle of the liquid crystal zoom lens is shown in figure 4: when no voltage is applied, the liquid crystal zoom lens has a focusing effect in an initial state due to the initial deflection angle of liquid crystal molecules when a beam of polarized light enters the liquid crystal lens because of the pretreatment of the arc-shaped cylindrical hollow shell; when external voltage is applied, the liquid crystal molecules subjected to preprocessing can be further deflected, so that a further zooming effect is realized on the basis of initial focusing, and the driving voltage and the response speed of the liquid crystal lens can be obviously reduced. The angle of the pretreatment can be changed according to the lens and the actual requirement, but the angle of the pretreatment is not too large, and the too large angle of the pretreatment can cause the focusing range of the whole lens to be seriously reduced, thereby greatly influencing the focusing function and the practicability of the liquid crystal lens. Because the preprocessing angle is too large, the liquid crystal lens directly shows that the deflection angle of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal lens is large, and the space of the rotation angle of the liquid crystal molecules which are regulated and controlled by the voltage subsequently is reduced, so that the focusing range is reduced.
The above embodiments are preferred embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and any other changes, modifications, substitutions, combinations, and simplifications which do not depart from the spirit and principle of the present invention should be construed as equivalents thereof, and all such changes, modifications, substitutions, combinations, and simplifications are intended to be included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. A variable-focus arc-shaped columnar cavity liquid crystal lens is characterized by comprising an upper electrode, a lower electrode, an orientation layer, a first protective layer, a liquid crystal layer, a second protective layer and a voltage driving module, wherein the orientation layer enables liquid crystal molecules to be oriented and arranged according to a required direction;
the upper electrode and the lower electrode are arranged in parallel, and a round hole is formed in the middle of the lower electrode; the liquid crystal layer is positioned between the upper electrode and the lower electrode, is in an arc-shaped columnar structure which is arched upwards, is arranged on the lower electrode at the bottom, is tangent to the upper electrode at the top and is in a hollow structure in the middle; the orientation layers are respectively arranged at the outer side and the inner side of the liquid crystal layer and wrap the liquid crystal layer; the first protective layer is arranged on the outer side of the liquid crystal lens and respectively positioned on the upper side of the upper electrode and the lower side of the lower electrode to wrap the liquid crystal lens; the second protective layer is arranged between the upper electrode and the lower electrode, and fills the gap between the upper electrode and the lower electrode and maintains the structure of the arc-shaped columnar liquid crystal layer not to deform; two ends of the voltage driving module are respectively electrically connected with the upper electrode and the lower electrode so as to apply voltage to change the arrangement direction of the molecules in the liquid crystal layer.
2. The variable focus rod-shaped cavity lc lens of claim 1, wherein said upper and lower electrodes are each of a plate electrode structure.
3. The variable focus cylindrical cavity lc lens of claim 1, wherein said top and bottom electrodes are transparent ITO circular electrodes.
4. The variable focus rod-shaped cavity lc lens of claim 1, wherein said alignment layer is made of PI material.
5. The variable focus rod-shaped cavity lc lens of claim 1, wherein said first protective layer and said second protective layer are made of optical glass material.
6. The variable focus curved cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens of claim 1, wherein said liquid crystal layer is made of nematic liquid crystal material.
7. The variable focus arc-shaped cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens according to claim 1, wherein liquid crystal molecules with a long rod-shaped molecular structure are adopted in the liquid crystal layer.
8. The variable focus curved cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens of claim 1, wherein the aperture of said circular aperture is set between 2mm and 4 mm.
9. The variable focus cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens of claim 8, wherein the aperture of said circular hole is set to 3 mm.
10. The variable focus curved cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens of claim 1, wherein said first protective layer has a thickness within a range of 1 mm.
CN201910810008.7A 2019-08-29 2019-08-29 Variable-focus arc-shaped cylindrical cavity liquid crystal lens Pending CN110596968A (en)

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CN101592841A (en) * 2009-06-29 2009-12-02 上海理工大学 A kind of optical imaging lens method for making of electrically controlled quick zooming
CN101676765A (en) * 2008-09-20 2010-03-24 比亚迪股份有限公司 Electronic device, liquid crystal varifocus lens and method of producing liquid crystal varifocus lens
CN203705777U (en) * 2013-12-26 2014-07-09 信利半导体有限公司 Liquid crystal box and liquid crystal lens
CN203705778U (en) * 2013-12-18 2014-07-09 信利半导体有限公司 Liquid crystal box and liquid crystal lens
CN204462603U (en) * 2015-04-02 2015-07-08 黑龙江科技大学 Large zooming range electric tuning liquid crystal variable focal lenticule
CN107656379A (en) * 2017-11-18 2018-02-02 莆田市烛火信息技术有限公司 A kind of Zoom glasses based on liquid crystal lens

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* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2002214580A (en) * 2001-11-05 2002-07-31 Nippon Telegr & Teleph Corp <Ntt> Stereoscopic display device and driving method for the same
CN101676765A (en) * 2008-09-20 2010-03-24 比亚迪股份有限公司 Electronic device, liquid crystal varifocus lens and method of producing liquid crystal varifocus lens
CN101592841A (en) * 2009-06-29 2009-12-02 上海理工大学 A kind of optical imaging lens method for making of electrically controlled quick zooming
CN203705778U (en) * 2013-12-18 2014-07-09 信利半导体有限公司 Liquid crystal box and liquid crystal lens
CN203705777U (en) * 2013-12-26 2014-07-09 信利半导体有限公司 Liquid crystal box and liquid crystal lens
CN204462603U (en) * 2015-04-02 2015-07-08 黑龙江科技大学 Large zooming range electric tuning liquid crystal variable focal lenticule
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