Variable-focus liquid crystal lens

Abstract

The present application provides a variable focus liquid crystal lens, which includes an upper substrate, a lower substrate, and a liquid crystal material, and the liquid crystal material is disposed between the upper and lower substrates. The interior of the lower substrate includes a first electrode region, which includes a plurality of annular electrodes with unequal intervals and unequal line widths, disposed in order from the inside to the outside. A voltage divider circuit is disposed on the outer periphery of the lower substrate. The annular wires are respectively connected to the plurality of annular electrodes via different connecting lines, and a plurality of connection points are formed between each connecting line and the annular wire, with a winding region of the annular wire disposed between every two adjacent connection points. The distances between the two adjacent connection points are equal, and the resistances between the two adjacent connection points are equal. The initial end voltage and the end voltage of the annular wire are adjusted to control the liquid crystal material to operate in a linear region of the voltage-optical path difference curve, thereby achieving an optical path difference with a uniform step distribution. The winding region of the annular wire can reduce voltage errors caused by length deviations between the connection points.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of lens technology, and in particular to variable focus liquid crystal lenses. [Background technology]

[0002] Generally, in order to realize an ideal lens optical path difference distribution, a liquid crystal zoom lens needs to adopt a discrete multi-electrode design, a high-resistance film design, or an equal-width and equal-spaced spiral or concentric circle design. The discrete multi-electrode method requires a relatively complex external driving circuit, a large number of electrodes, and the voltage of each electrode needs to be accurately controlled independently, which makes the circuit complex and makes adjustment and verification relatively difficult. Meanwhile, the high-resistance film design method requires the manufacture of a high-resistance film with excellent uniformity and stability, which has not yet been resolved. The equal-width and equal-spaced spiral or concentric circle design method requires the same electrode sampling rate for the entire lens area, and the lens central area does not necessarily need the same high sampling rate as the outer ring area, which causes oversampling and diffraction effects in the central area, resulting in a deterioration of image quality. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0003] In order to solve or alleviate the problems existing in the prior art in realizing an ideal lens optical path difference distribution, an embodiment of the present invention provides a variable-focus liquid crystal lens, including an upper substrate, a lower substrate, and a liquid crystal material, wherein the liquid crystal material is disposed between the upper substrate and the lower substrate; The inside of the lower substrate includes a first electrode region, and the first electrode region includes a plurality of annular electrodes with unequal intervals and unequal line widths that are arranged in order from the inside to the outside; a voltage divider circuit is installed on the outer periphery of the lower substrate, the voltage divider circuit including a connecting line and an annular wiring, the annular wiring is installed surrounding the outer periphery of the lower substrate, the annular wiring is connected to a plurality of the annular electrodes via different connecting lines, the connecting lines are installed in one-to-one correspondence with the annular electrodes, a plurality of connection points are formed at connection points between each of the connection lines and the annular wiring, a winding region of the annular wiring is installed between each of two adjacent connection points, the distances between the two adjacent connection points are equal, and the resistances between the two adjacent connection points are equal; The annular wiring includes an initial end and an end, and the initial end voltage and the end voltage of the annular wiring are adjusted to control the liquid crystal material to operate in a linear region of a voltage-optical path difference curve, thereby obtaining an optical path difference with a uniform step distribution.

[0004] In one preferred embodiment of the present application, the width m between each of the annular electrodes is calculated in the following manner: m=R n -R n-1 where R n is the radius of the nth annular electrode, and R n-1 is the radius of the (n-1)th annular electrode, where n is a natural number equal to or greater than 2, JPEG2026505891000002.jpg46169

[0005] In one preferred embodiment of the present application, the first electrode region includes a first sub-annular electrode and a second sub-annular electrode, and the voltage dividing circuit includes a first sub-voltage dividing circuit and a second sub-voltage dividing circuit; the first sub-voltage dividing circuit includes a first sub-annular wiring and a first sub-connecting line, the second sub-voltage dividing circuit includes a second sub-annular wiring and a second sub-connecting line, the first sub-annular wiring is electrically connected to a plurality of first sub-annular electrodes via different first sub-connection lines, and the first sub-connection lines are provided in one-to-one correspondence with the first sub-annular electrodes; The second sub-annular wiring is electrically connected to a plurality of second sub-annular electrodes via different second sub-connection lines, and the second sub-connection lines are installed in one-to-one correspondence with the second sub-annular electrodes.

[0006] In one preferred embodiment of the present application, the first sub-annular wiring is located closer to the first electrode region, and the second sub-annular wiring is located farther from the first electrode region.

[0007] In one preferred embodiment of the present application, the connection point includes a first sub-connection point and a second sub-connection point; A plurality of first sub-connection points are formed at intervals at connection points between each of the first sub-connection lines and the first sub-annular wiring, and a plurality of second sub-connection points are formed at connection points between each of the second sub-connection lines and the second sub-annular wiring.

[0008] In one preferred embodiment of the present application, the winding region of the annular wiring includes a winding region of a first sub-annular wiring and a winding region of a second sub-annular wiring; Between each two adjacent first sub-connection points, a winding region of a first sub-annular wiring is provided, and between each two adjacent second sub-connection points, a winding region of a second sub-annular wiring is provided.

[0009] In one preferred embodiment of the present application, a plurality of second electrode regions are provided in order from the inside to the outside around the outer periphery of the first electrode region, Each of the second electrode regions includes a plurality of the annular electrodes having the same number, and the Nth annular electrodes in the first electrode region and the plurality of second electrode regions are all connected to the same connecting line, where N is a natural number.

[0010] In one preferred embodiment of the present application, the first sub-annular wiring and the second sub-annular wiring are disposed on the outer periphery of the plurality of second electrode regions.

[0011] In one preferred embodiment of the present application, each of the second electrode regions includes a third sub-annular electrode and a fourth sub-annular electrode; The first sub-annular wiring is connected to third sub-annular electrodes of the plurality of second electrode regions via different first sub-connection lines, and the second sub-annular wiring is connected to fourth sub-annular electrodes of the plurality of second electrode regions via different second sub-connection lines. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] Compared with the prior art, the embodiments of the present application provide a variable focus liquid crystal lens, and the present application designs a voltage divider circuit on the outer periphery of the lower substrate of the liquid crystal lens, so that the distance between two adjacent connection points is equal, and the resistance between two adjacent connection points is equal, the annular wire includes an initial end and an end, and adjusts the initial end voltage and end voltage of the annular wire to control the liquid crystal material to operate in the linear region of the voltage-optical path difference curve, thereby obtaining an optical path difference with a uniform step distribution, and a winding region of the annular wire is provided between each two adjacent connection points, which can reduce the voltage error caused by the length deviation between the connection points. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] The drawings described herein are used to provide further understanding of the present application and constitute a part of the present application, and the exemplary embodiments and descriptions thereof are used to interpret the present application and do not constitute undue limitations on the present application. Some specific embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below in an exemplary and non-limiting manner with reference to the drawings. The same reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same or similar components or parts, and those skilled in the art should understand that these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings: [Figure 1] 1 is a structural schematic diagram of the lower substrate of a variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 2] 1 is a schematic diagram of an equal step change in voltage signal of multiple ring electrodes according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 3]1 is a schematic diagram of a liquid crystal material according to an embodiment of the present application operating in the linear region of the voltage-optical path difference curve. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic diagram of an equal step change in optical path difference of multiple annular electrodes according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 5] 1 is a schematic diagram of an optical path difference distribution of an ideal variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of an annular wiring according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 7] 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the lower substrate of the variable-focus liquid crystal lens after a plurality of ring-shaped electrodes are divided into regions according to an embodiment of the present application; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] In order to help those skilled in the art better understand the solutions of the present application, the following clearly and completely describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present application without any creative effort shall fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 1, an embodiment of the present application provides a variable-focus liquid crystal lens, which includes an upper substrate, a lower substrate, and a liquid crystal material, and the liquid crystal material is disposed between the upper substrate and the lower substrate; the inside of the lower substrate includes a first electrode region 03, the first electrode region 03 includes a plurality of annular electrodes 03-1 with unequal intervals and unequal line widths that are arranged in order from the inside to the outside; a voltage divider circuit is arranged on the outer periphery of the lower substrate, the voltage divider circuit includes connecting wires 02 and annular wiring 01, the annular wiring 01 is arranged surrounding the outer periphery of the lower substrate, each of the annular electrodes 03-1 is electrically connected to the annular wiring 01 via a connecting wire 02, the connecting wires 02 are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the annular electrodes 03-1, a plurality of connection points are formed at intervals between each of the connection wires 02 and the annular wiring 01, a winding region of the annular wiring is arranged between each of two adjacent connection points, the distances between each of the adjacent connection points are equal, and the resistances between each of the adjacent connection points are equal; The annular wiring 01 includes an initial end and an end, and by adjusting the initial end voltage and the end voltage of the annular wiring 01, the liquid crystal material is controlled to operate in the linear region of the voltage-optical path difference curve, thereby obtaining an optical path difference with a uniform step distribution.

[0016] In the embodiments of the present application, in order to solve the problems that exist in the prior art in realizing an ideal optical path difference distribution of a variable-focus liquid crystal lens, the embodiments of the present application mainly improve the lower substrate of the variable-focus liquid crystal lens, and a voltage divider circuit is installed on the outer periphery of the lower substrate, so that a circular wiring winding area is installed between each two adjacent connection points, and the distance between each two adjacent connection points is equal, and the resistance between each two adjacent connection points is equal. At the same time, by controlling the initial end voltage and terminal voltage of the voltage divider circuit, the liquid crystal material in the variable-focus liquid crystal lens operates in the linear region of voltage-optical path difference, thereby obtaining an optical path difference with an equal step distribution.

[0017] The voltage divider circuit is installed around the outer periphery of the outermost annular electrode, that is, the voltage divider circuit is installed around the outermost annular electrode. In one specific embodiment, the annular electrode 03-1 is made of indium tin oxide, and the connecting wire 02 is made of metal or indium tin oxide.

[0018] As shown in Figure 2, for example, the first electrode region 03 includes 50 annular electrodes, and the initial end voltage V1 of the voltage divider circuit is 1.22V and the terminal voltage V2 is 2.05V. 50 connection points r1, r2, r3, r4, ..., r50 are designed at equal intervals from the initial end of the voltage divider circuit, and the resistance between two adjacent connection points is equal. These connection points are connected to the 50 annular electrodes via different connection lines 02, forming a voltage signal that changes in an equal step pattern as shown in Figure 2.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 3, when the initial terminal voltage V1 and the terminal voltage V2 of the voltage divider circuit are between 1.22V and 2.05V, the liquid crystal material in the lower substrate of the variable-focus liquid crystal lens operates in the voltage-optical path difference linear region.

[0020] The width m of each of the annular electrodes is calculated as follows: m=R n -R n-1 where R n is the radius of the nth annular electrode, and R n-1 is the radius of the (n-1)th annular electrode, where n is a natural number equal to or greater than 2, JPEG2026505891000003.jpg76170

[0021] As shown in Figure 4, the liquid crystal material in the lower substrate of the variable-focus liquid crystal lens operates in the linear region of voltage-optical path difference, so the optical path differences corresponding to the 50 annular electrodes also have an equal-step distribution.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 5, the multiple annular electrodes are arranged at unequal intervals with unequal line widths, so that the optical path difference distribution of the variable-focus liquid crystal lens is the parabolic distribution of an ideal lens.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 6, in one preferred embodiment of the present application, the first electrode region 03 includes a first sub-annular electrode and a second sub-annular electrode, and the voltage dividing circuit includes a first sub-voltage dividing circuit and a second sub-voltage dividing circuit; the first sub-voltage dividing circuit includes a first sub-annular wiring 01-1 and a first sub-connecting line 02-1, the second sub-voltage dividing circuit includes a second sub-annular wiring 01-2 and a second sub-connecting line 02-2, the first sub-annular wiring 01-1 is electrically connected to a plurality of first sub-annular electrodes via different first sub-connection lines 02-1, and the first sub-connection lines 02-1 are provided in one-to-one correspondence with the first sub-annular electrodes; The second sub-annular wiring 01-2 is electrically connected to a plurality of second sub-annular electrodes via different second sub-connection lines 02-2, and the second sub-connection lines 02-2 are installed in one-to-one correspondence with the second sub-annular electrodes.

[0024] Preferably, the first sub-annular electrodes and the second sub-annular electrodes are alternately distributed.

[0025] In one preferred embodiment of the present application, the first sub-annular wiring 01-1 is disposed on the side closer to the annular electrode, and the second sub-annular wiring 01-2 is disposed on the side farther from the annular electrode.

[0026] In one preferred embodiment of the present application, the connection point includes a first sub-connection point and a second sub-connection point; A plurality of first sub-connection points are formed at intervals at the connection points between each of the first sub-connection lines 02-1 and the first sub-annular wiring 01-1, and a plurality of second sub-connection points are formed at the connection points between each of the second sub-connection lines 02-2 and the second sub-annular wiring 01-2.

[0027] In one preferred embodiment of the present application, the winding region of the annular wiring includes a first sub-annular wiring winding region 04 and a second sub-annular wiring winding region 05; As shown in FIG. 6, a winding region 04 of the first sub-annular wiring is provided between each of two adjacent first sub-connection points r1 and r2, and a winding region 05 of the second sub-annular wiring is provided between each of two adjacent second sub-connection points n3 and n4.

[0028] In the above-described embodiment of the present application, theoretically, the wiring length of the peripheral voltage dividing circuit does not affect the voltage corresponding to the connecting wires drawn out from it, exhibiting an equal-step distribution. However, in order to reduce the voltage error caused by the length deviation between the connection points, the wiring length is increased by setting up a winding region of the annular wiring between the connection points, thereby solving the problem of voltage deviation.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 7, if the required focal length of the variable-focus liquid crystal lens is shorter and the diameter is larger, a segment Fresnel lens method can be adopted, and multiple electrode regions can be installed on the lower substrate of the variable-focus liquid crystal lens.

[0030] In one preferred embodiment of the present application, a plurality of second electrode regions 06 are provided in order from the inside to the outside around the outer periphery of the first electrode region 03, Each of the second electrode regions 06 includes a plurality of the annular electrodes having the same number, and the Nth annular electrode in the first electrode region and the plurality of second electrode regions are all connected to the same connecting line, where N is a natural number.

[0031] In one preferred embodiment of the present application, the first sub-annular wiring 01-1 and the second sub-annular wiring 01-2 are disposed on the outer periphery of the plurality of second electrode regions 06.

[0032] In one preferred embodiment of the present application, each of the second electrode regions 06 includes a third sub-annular electrode and a fourth sub-annular electrode, The first sub-annular wiring 01-1 is connected to the third sub-annular electrode in each second electrode region 06 via a different first sub-connection line, and the second sub-annular wiring 01-2 is connected to the fourth sub-annular electrode in each second electrode region 06 via a different second sub-connection line.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 7, the variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to the embodiment of the present application includes 36 electrode regions, each of which includes 50 annular electrodes, where the first electrode region 03 includes one electrode region, and the second electrode region 06 includes 35 electrode regions, for example, the first electrode region 03 includes the first annular electrode x1 to the 50th annular electrode x50, the first electrode region in the second electrode region 06 includes the 51st annular electrode to the 100th annular electrode, the 34th electrode region includes the 1701st annular electrode x1701 to the 1750th annular electrode x1750, and the 35th electrode region includes the 1751st annular electrode x1751 to the 1800th annular electrode x1800.

[0034] Each electrode area is divided into regions according to the following scheme: JPEG2026505891000004.jpg45168

[0035] JPEG2026505891000005.jpg55170

[0036] V1 and V2 are the initial and terminal voltages across the electrode area.

[0037] Finally, it should be explained that the above embodiments are only for explaining the technical solutions of the present application, and are not intended to limit the same. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications may still be made to the technical solutions described in the above embodiments, or equivalent substitutions may be made to some or all of the technical features thereof, but these modifications or substitutions will not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to depart from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A variable-focus liquid crystal lens, comprising: an upper substrate, a lower substrate, and a liquid crystal material, the liquid crystal material being disposed between the upper substrate and the lower substrate; The inside of the lower substrate includes a first electrode region, and the first electrode region includes a plurality of annular electrodes with unequal intervals and unequal line widths that are arranged in order from the inside to the outside; a voltage divider circuit is installed on the outer periphery of the lower substrate, the voltage divider circuit including a connecting line and an annular wiring, the annular wiring is installed surrounding the outer periphery of the lower substrate, the annular wiring is connected to a plurality of the annular electrodes via different connecting lines, the connecting lines are installed in one-to-one correspondence with the annular electrodes, a plurality of connection points are formed at connection points between each of the connection lines and the annular wiring, a winding region of the annular wiring is installed between each of two adjacent connection points, the distances between the two adjacent connection points are equal, and the resistances between the two adjacent connection points are equal; The annular wiring includes an initial end and an end, and the initial end voltage and the end voltage of the annular wiring are adjusted, and the liquid crystal material is controlled to operate in a linear region of a voltage-optical path difference curve, thereby obtaining an optical path difference with an equal step distribution.

2. The width m between each of the annular electrodes is calculated as follows: m = R ｎ -R ｎ－１ where R ｎ is the radius of the nth annular electrode, and R ｎ－１ is the radius of the (n-1)th annular electrode, where n is a natural number equal to or greater than 2; 2. The variable-focus liquid crystal lens of claim 1, wherein f is the focal length of the variable-focus liquid crystal lens, fs is the number of annular electrodes included in the optical path difference per λ wavelength, and λ is the wavelength of incident light.

3. the first electrode region includes a first sub-annular electrode and a second sub-annular electrode, and the voltage dividing circuit includes a first sub-voltage dividing circuit and a second sub-voltage dividing circuit; the first sub-voltage dividing circuit includes a first sub-annular wiring and a first sub-connecting line, the second sub-voltage dividing circuit includes a second sub-annular wiring and a second sub-connecting line, the first sub-annular wiring is electrically connected to a plurality of first sub-annular electrodes via different first sub-connection lines, and the first sub-connection lines are provided in one-to-one correspondence with the first sub-annular electrodes; The variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to claim 1, characterized in that the second sub-annular wiring is electrically connected to a plurality of second sub-annular electrodes via different second sub-connecting lines, and the second sub-connecting lines are installed in one-to-one correspondence with the second sub-annular electrodes.

4. 4. The variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to claim 3, wherein the first sub-annular wiring is arranged closer to the first electrode region, and the second sub-annular wiring is arranged farther from the first electrode region.

5. the connection point includes a first sub-connection point and a second sub-connection point; 5. The variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of first sub-connection points are formed at intervals at connection points between each of the first sub-connection lines and the first sub-annular wiring, and a plurality of second sub-connection points are formed at connection points between each of the second sub-connection lines and the second sub-annular wiring.

6. the winding region of the annular wiring includes a winding region of a first sub-annular wiring and a winding region of a second sub-annular wiring; The variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to claim 5, characterized in that a winding region of a first sub-annular wiring is provided between each two adjacent first sub-connection points, and a winding region of a second sub-annular wiring is provided between each two adjacent second sub-connection points.

7. a plurality of second electrode regions are provided in order from the inside to the outside around the outer periphery of the first electrode region; 4. The variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to claim 3, wherein each of the second electrode regions includes a plurality of the annular electrodes having the same number, and the Nth annular electrodes in the first electrode region and the plurality of second electrode regions are all connected to the same connecting line, where N is a natural number.

8. The variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to claim 7 , wherein the first sub-annular wiring and the second sub-annular wiring are disposed on the outer periphery of a plurality of the second electrode regions.

9. each said second electrode region includes a third sub-annular electrode and a fourth sub-annular electrode; The variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to claim 7, characterized in that the first sub-annular wiring is connected to third sub-annular electrodes of the plurality of second electrode regions via different first sub-connection lines, and the second sub-annular wiring is connected to fourth sub-annular electrodes of the plurality of second electrode regions via different second sub-connection lines.

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