Variable-focus liquid crystal lens

Abstract

A variable-focus liquid crystal lens, comprising 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 lower substrate internally comprises a first electrode region (03), the first electrode region (03) comprising a plurality of ring electrodes (03-1) which are sequentially arranged from inside to outside and have varying spacing and line widths; a voltage division circuit is provided on the outer periphery of the lower substrate, and a ring trace (01) is connected to the plurality of ring electrodes (03-1) by means of different connecting wires (02), respectively; and a plurality of spaced-apart connection points are formed between each connecting wire (02) and the ring trace (01), and a winding region of the ring trace (01) is arranged between every two adjacent connection points, the distance between every two adjacent connection points being equal, and the resistance between every two adjacent connection points being equal. The initial end voltage and the final end voltage of the ring trace (01) are adjusted, and the liquid crystal material is controlled to work in a linear region of a voltage and optical-path difference curve, so as to obtain an optical-path difference with equidistant stepwise distribution. By means of the provision of the winding region of the ring trace, voltage errors caused by the length deviation between connection points can be reduced.

Description

A variable focus liquid crystal lens Technical Field

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

[0002] Typically, in order to achieve the ideal optical path difference distribution of a liquid crystal zoom lens, a discrete multi-electrode design, a high-resistance film design, or a spiral or concentric circle design with equal line width and line spacing is required. The discrete multi-electrode approach requires a more complex external drive circuit, with a large number of electrodes, and the voltage of each electrode must be individually and precisely controlled. The circuit is complex and debugging is also relatively difficult. The high-resistance film design method requires the production of a uniform and stable high-resistance film, a problem that has not yet been solved. The spiral or concentric circle design method with equal line width and line spacing requires the same electrode sampling rate for the entire lens area, while the central area of ​​the lens does not originally require the same high sampling rate as the outer ring area. This will lead to image quality degradation in the central area due to oversampling and diffraction effects. Technical Solutions

[0003] In order to solve or alleviate the problems existing in the prior art in achieving an ideal optical path difference distribution of a lens, an embodiment of the present invention provides a variable focus liquid crystal lens, comprising 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;

[0004] The lower substrate includes a first electrode area, the first electrode area includes a plurality of annular electrodes with unequal spacing and unequal line widths arranged sequentially from the inside to the outside;

[0005] A voltage divider circuit is provided around the periphery of the lower substrate, the voltage divider circuit including a connecting line and a ring-shaped trace, the ring-shaped trace being provided around the periphery of the lower substrate, the ring-shaped trace being connected to the plurality of ring-shaped electrodes through different connecting lines, the connecting lines being provided in a one-to-one correspondence with the ring-shaped electrodes, a plurality of spaced connection points being formed at the connection between each connecting line and the ring-shaped trace, a ring-shaped trace winding area being provided between each adjacent two connection points, the distance between the two adjacent connection points being equal, and the resistance between the two adjacent connection points being equal;

[0006] The loop line includes an initial end and an end end. The initial end voltage and the end end voltage of the loop line are adjusted, and 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 equal step distribution.

[0007] As a preferred embodiment of the present application, the width m between each of the annular electrodes is calculated as follows:

[0008] m = R n -Rn-1 , where R n is the radius of the nth ring electrode, R n-1 is the radius of the n-1th annular electrode, where n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2;

[0009] ;

[0010] , where f is the focal length of the variable focus liquid crystal lens, fs is the number of annular electrodes contained in the optical path difference per wavelength, is the wavelength of incident light.

[0011] As a preferred embodiment of the present application, the first electrode area includes a first sub-annular electrode and a second sub-annular electrode, and the voltage divider circuit includes a first sub-voltage divider circuit and a second sub-voltage divider circuit;

[0012] The first sub-voltage-dividing circuit includes a first sub-annular trace and a first sub-connecting trace, and the second sub-voltage-dividing circuit includes a second sub-annular trace and a second sub-connecting trace;

[0013] The first sub-annular routing wire is electrically connected to the plurality of first sub-annular electrodes through different first sub-connecting wires, and the first sub-connecting wires are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the first sub-annular electrodes;

[0014] The second sub-annular routing is electrically connected to a plurality of second sub-annular electrodes through different second sub-connecting wires, and the second sub-connecting wires are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the second sub-annular electrodes.

[0015] As a preferred embodiment of the present application, the first sub-annular routing line is arranged on a side close to the first electrode region, and the second sub-annular routing line is arranged on a side away from the first electrode region.

[0016] As a preferred embodiment of the present application, the connection point includes a first sub-connection point and a second sub-connection point;

[0017] The connection between each of the first sub-connection lines and the first sub-loop line forms a plurality of first sub-connection points arranged at intervals, and the connection between each of the second sub-connection lines and the second sub-loop line forms a plurality of second sub-connection points.

[0018] As a preferred embodiment of the present application, the circular wiring winding area includes a first sub-circular wiring winding area and a second sub-circular wiring winding area;

[0019] A first sub-annular wiring winding area is provided between each adjacent two of the first sub-connection points, and a second sub-annular wiring winding area is provided between each adjacent two of the second sub-connection points.

[0020] As a preferred embodiment of the present application, a plurality of second electrode regions are sequentially arranged from the inside to the outside around the first electrode region;

[0021] Each of the second electrode regions 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 is connected to the same connecting line, where N is a natural number.

[0022] As a preferred embodiment of the present application, the first sub-annular routing and the second sub-annular routing are arranged around the plurality of second electrode regions.

[0023] As a preferred embodiment of the present application, each of the second electrode regions includes a third sub-annular electrode and a fourth sub-annular electrode;

[0024] The first sub-annular routing is connected to the third sub-annular electrodes of the plurality of second electrode regions through different first sub-connecting lines, and the second sub-annular routing is connected to the fourth sub-annular electrodes of the plurality of second electrode regions through different second sub-connecting lines.

[0025] Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the present application provides a variable-focus liquid crystal lens. The present application designs a voltage divider circuit on the periphery of the lower substrate of the liquid crystal lens, and the distance between two adjacent connection points is equal, the resistance between two adjacent connection points is equal, the circular trace includes an initial end and an end end, the initial end voltage and the end end voltage of the circular trace are adjusted, and 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 equal step distribution, and a circular trace winding area is provided between two adjacent connection points to reduce the voltage error caused by the length deviation between the connection points. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] The drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present application and constitute a part of the present application. The illustrative embodiments of the present application and their descriptions are used to explain the present application and do not constitute an improper limitation of the present application. Some specific embodiments of the present application will be described in detail in an illustrative and non-restrictive manner with reference to the drawings. The same reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same or similar components or parts. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings:

[0027] FIG1 is a schematic structural diagram of a lower substrate of a variable-focus liquid crystal lens provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of equal-step changes in voltage signals of multiple annular electrodes provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a liquid crystal material provided in an embodiment of the present application operating in the linear region of a voltage-optical path difference curve;

[0030] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a plurality of annular electrodes with equal step changes in optical path difference provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of an ideal optical path difference distribution of a variable focus liquid crystal lens provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG6 is a partial enlarged view of the loop routing provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of the lower substrate of the variable-focus liquid crystal lens after partitioning by multiple annular electrodes provided in an embodiment of the present application. Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0034] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the present invention, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts should fall within the scope of protection of this application.

[0035] As shown in FIG1 , an embodiment of the present application provides a variable-focus liquid crystal lens, comprising 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;

[0036] The lower substrate includes a first electrode area 03, which includes a plurality of annular electrodes 03-1 with unequal spacing and unequal line widths arranged in sequence from the inside to the outside. A voltage divider circuit is provided on the periphery of the lower substrate, and the voltage divider circuit includes a connecting line 02 and an annular trace 01. The annular trace 01 is arranged around the periphery of the lower substrate. Each of the annular electrodes 03-1 is electrically connected to the annular trace 01 via a connecting line 02. The connecting lines 02 are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the annular electrodes 03-1. A plurality of spaced connection points are formed at the connection between each connecting line 02 and the annular trace 01. A annular trace winding area is provided between each adjacent connection point. The distance between the two adjacent connection points is equal, and the resistance between the two adjacent connection points is equal.

[0037] The loop line 01 includes an initial end and an end end. By adjusting the initial end voltage and the end end voltage of the loop line 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 equal step distribution.

[0038] In an embodiment of the present application, in order to solve the problems existing in the prior art in achieving an ideal optical path difference distribution of a variable-focus liquid crystal lens, the embodiment of the present application mainly improves the lower substrate of the variable-focus liquid crystal lens. A voltage divider circuit is provided on the periphery of the lower substrate, and a ring wiring winding area is provided between two adjacent connection points, and the distance between the two adjacent connection points is equal, and the resistance between the two adjacent connection points is equal; at the same time, by controlling the initial terminal voltage and the 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 equal step distribution.

[0039] The voltage divider circuit is arranged outside the outermost annular electrode, that is, the voltage divider circuit is arranged around the outermost annular electrode. In a 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.

[0040] As shown in FIG2 , taking the first electrode region 03 including 50 annular electrodes as an example, the initial end voltage V1 of the voltage divider circuit is 1.22V and the terminal voltage V2 is 2.05V. Starting from the initial end of the voltage divider circuit, 50 connection points r1, r2, r3, r4, ..., r50 are designed at equal intervals. The resistance between two adjacent connection points is equal. These connection points are connected to the 50 annular electrodes through different connection lines 02, forming a voltage signal with equal step changes as shown in FIG2 .

[0041] As shown in FIG3 , 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.

[0042] The width m of each of the annular electrodes is calculated as follows:

[0043] m = R n -R n-1 , where R n is the radius of the nth ring electrode, R n-1 is the radius of the n-1th annular electrode, where n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2;

[0044] ;

[0045] , where f is the focal length of the variable focus liquid crystal lens, fs is the number of annular electrodes contained in the optical path difference per wavelength λ, is the wavelength of the incident light. Specifically, here we take fs=10 as an example to calculate the radius of each annular electrode;

[0046] ;

[0047] …

[0048] ;

[0049] R2-R1, …, R n -R n-1 Represent the widths of the 2nd, ..., nth annular electrodes respectively.

[0050] As shown in FIG4 , since 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, the optical path differences corresponding to the 50 annular electrodes are also distributed in equal steps.

[0051] As shown in FIG5 , since the multiple annular electrodes are arranged with unequal spacing and unequal line widths, the optical path difference distribution of the variable focus liquid crystal lens is a parabolic distribution of an ideal lens.

[0052] As shown in FIG6 , as a preferred embodiment of the present application, the first electrode area 03 includes a first sub-annular electrode and a second sub-annular electrode, and the voltage divider circuit includes a first sub-voltage divider circuit and a second sub-voltage divider circuit;

[0053] The first sub-voltage-dividing circuit includes a first sub-ring wiring 01-1 and a first sub-connecting wire 02-1, and the second sub-voltage-dividing circuit includes a second sub-ring wiring 01-2 and a second sub-connecting wire 02-2;

[0054] The first sub-annular trace 01-1 is electrically connected to the plurality of first sub-annular electrodes through different first sub-connection wires 02-1, and the first sub-connection wires 02-1 are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the first sub-annular electrodes;

[0055] The second sub-annular routing line 01 - 2 is electrically connected to a plurality of second sub-annular electrodes through different second sub-connecting lines 02 - 2 , and the second sub-annular electrodes are provided in a one-to-one correspondence with the second sub-annular electrodes.

[0056] Preferably, the first sub-annular electrodes and the second sub-annular electrodes are alternately distributed.

[0057] As a preferred embodiment of the present application, the first sub-annular trace 01 - 1 is arranged on a side close to the annular electrode, and the second sub-annular trace 01 - 2 is arranged on a side away from the annular electrode.

[0058] As a preferred embodiment of the present application, the connection point includes a first sub-connection point and a second sub-connection point;

[0059] A plurality of first sub-connection points are formed between each of the first sub-connection lines 02 - 1 and the first sub-ring line 01 - 1 , and a plurality of second sub-connection points are formed between each of the second sub-connection lines 02 - 2 and the second sub-ring line 01 - 2 .

[0060] As a preferred embodiment of the present application, the circular wiring winding area includes a first sub-circular wiring winding area 04 and a second sub-circular wiring winding area 05;

[0061] As shown in FIG6 , a first sub-annular routing winding area 04 is provided between two adjacent first sub-connection points r1 and r2 , and a second sub-annular routing winding area 05 is provided between two adjacent second sub-connection points n3 and n4 .

[0062] Through the above-mentioned embodiments of the present application, although theoretically the routing length of the peripheral voltage divider circuit does not affect the equal-step distribution of the voltage corresponding to the connecting line drawn from it, in order to reduce the voltage error caused by the length deviation between the connection points, the routing length is increased by setting a circular routing winding area between the connection points to solve the problem of voltage deviation.

[0063] As shown in FIG7 , when the required variable-focus liquid crystal lens has a shorter focal length and a larger diameter, a segmented Fresnel lens can be used to set a plurality of electrode regions on the lower substrate of the variable-focus liquid crystal lens.

[0064] As a preferred embodiment of the present application, a plurality of second electrode regions 06 are sequentially arranged on the periphery of the first electrode region 03 from the inside to the outside;

[0065] Each of the second electrode regions 06 includes a plurality of annular electrodes having the same number, and the Nth annular electrode in the first electrode region and the plurality of second electrode regions is connected to the same connecting line, where N is a natural number.

[0066] As a preferred embodiment of the present application, the first sub-annular routing line 01 - 1 and the second sub-annular routing line 01 - 2 are arranged outside the plurality of second electrode regions 06 .

[0067] As a 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;

[0068] The first sub-annular trace 01 - 1 is connected to the third sub-annular electrode in each second electrode region 06 through different first sub-connection lines, and the second sub-annular trace 01 - 2 is connected to the fourth sub-annular electrode in each second electrode region 06 through different second sub-connection lines.

[0069] As shown in Figure 7, the variable-focus liquid crystal lens provided in an embodiment of the present application includes 36 electrode areas, each electrode area includes 50 annular electrodes, wherein the first electrode area 03 includes 1 electrode area, and the second electrode area 06 includes 35 electrode areas. For example, the first electrode area 03 includes the first annular electrode x1 to the 50th annular electrode x50, the first electrode area in the second electrode area 06 includes the 51st annular electrode to the 100th annular electrode, the 34th electrode area includes the 1701st annular electrode x1701 to the 1750th annular electrode x1750, and the 35th electrode area includes the 1751st annular electrode x1751 to the 1800th annular electrode x1800.

[0070] Each electrode area is divided into the following ways:

[0071] ; S is the radius of the electrode area, Q is 1 The number of electrodes, N is the electrode number, f is the focal length of the variable focus liquid crystal lens, is the wavelength of incident light. According to the radius of each electrode area and the pre-designed electrode area division method, a design scheme of a variable focus liquid crystal lens can be obtained.

[0072] For example: design 50 ring electrodes as one electrode area, =543.5nm, 5 annular electrodes are 1, the focal length of the variable focus liquid crystal lens is 0.8m, then the radius S of the first electrode area 03 and the radius R of the 50th annular electrode x50 of the first electrode area 03 are 50 Same, that is:

[0073]

[0074] That is, the first electrode region 03 is a circular region with a radius of 2948.9 μm.

[0075] V1 and V2 are the initial terminal voltage and the terminal voltage of the entire electrode area.

[0076] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some or all of the technical features therein. These modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A variable-focus liquid crystal lens, characterized in that, It 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 interior of the lower substrate includes a first electrode region, and the first electrode region includes a plurality of annular electrodes with unequal spacings and unequal line widths arranged in sequence from inside to outside; A voltage dividing circuit is disposed on the periphery of the lower substrate. The voltage dividing circuit includes connection lines and an annular trace. The annular trace is arranged around the periphery of the lower substrate. The annular trace is connected to a plurality of the annular electrodes through different connection lines respectively. The connection lines are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the annular electrodes. A plurality of connection points arranged at intervals are formed at the connection between each connection line and the annular trace. An annular trace winding region is provided between adjacent two of the connection points. The distances between adjacent two of the connection points are equal, and the resistances between adjacent two of the connection points are equal; The annular trace includes an initial end and a terminal end. Adjust the voltage of the initial end and the terminal end of the annular trace, and control the liquid crystal material to operate in the linear region of the voltage-optical path difference curve, so as to obtain an equally stepped distribution of the optical path difference.

2. The variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to claim 1, wherein, The width m between each of the annular electrodes is calculated by the following method: 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, and n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2; ； , where f is the focal length of the variable-focus liquid crystal lens, and fs is the number of annular electrodes included in the optical path difference per λ wavelength. is the wavelength of the incident light.

3. The variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to claim 1, wherein, 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 trace and a first sub-connection line, and the second sub-voltage dividing circuit includes a second sub-annular trace and a second sub-connection line; The first sub-annular trace is electrically connected to a plurality of first sub-annular electrodes through different first sub-connection lines respectively. The first sub-connection lines are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the first sub-annular electrodes; The second sub-annular trace is electrically connected to a plurality of second sub-annular electrodes through different second sub-connection lines respectively. The second sub-connection lines are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the second sub-annular electrodes.

4. The variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to claim 3, wherein, The first sub-annular trace is disposed on the side close to the first electrode region, and the second sub-annular trace is disposed on the side far from the first electrode region.

5. The variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to claim 4, wherein, The connection points include first sub-connection points and second sub-connection points; A plurality of first sub-connection points arranged at intervals are formed at the connection between each first sub-connection line and the first sub-annular trace, and a plurality of second sub-connection points are formed at the connection between each second sub-connection line and the second sub-annular trace.

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

7. The variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to claim 3, wherein, A plurality of second electrode regions are arranged in sequence from inside to outside on the periphery of the first electrode region; Each of the second electrode regions includes a plurality of the annular electrodes with the same quantity. The Nth annular electrode in the first electrode region and the plurality of second electrode regions is connected to the same connection line, where N is a natural number.

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

9. The variable-focus liquid crystal lens according to claim 7, wherein, Each of the second electrode regions includes a third sub-annular electrode and a fourth sub-annular electrode; The first sub-ring-shaped trace is connected to the third sub-ring-shaped electrodes of a plurality of second electrode regions through different first sub-connection lines, and the second sub-ring-shaped trace is connected to the fourth sub-ring-shaped electrodes of the plurality of second electrode regions through different second sub-connection lines.

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