Stacked Liquid Crystal Lens Phase Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional liquid crystal (LC) lenses with a single LC unit have limitations in achieving optimal optical performance, prompting the need for improved design that maintains lens thickness while enhancing optical capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A liquid crystal lens design featuring two stacked LC layers with different layouts and partition units, where the first and second electrode structures on each substrate control the electric field distribution to achieve phase accumulation and improved lens performance without altering the lens thickness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single LC unit is used with electrode design or thickness variation to achieve lens effect, then the device complexity is low, but the optical performance is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The liquid crystal layer is divided into multiple LC units with different layouts, where each LC unit can be independently controlled by electrodes. This segmentation allows the system to achieve superior optical performance through coordinated action of multiple units while maintaining manageable device complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-layer LC unit to a multi-layer stacked configuration with different layouts in each layer. This dimensional change from 2D plane to 3D stacked structure enables enhanced optical performance by utilizing phase accumulation across multiple layers without proportionally increasing device complexity.
2Reliability
If multiple LC layers with different layouts are stacked to accumulate phase profiles, then the optical performance is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the liquid crystal layer into multiple independently controllable LC units with different layouts, the patent achieves phase accumulation for improved optical performance. Each segmented unit can be manufactured and aligned separately, which actually simplifies the overall manufacturing process compared to creating a single complex thick LC layer with precise thickness variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs dynamically controllable LC units where each unit's optical properties can be adjusted independently through electrode control. This dynamic control capability allows for flexible optimization of optical performance without requiring extremely precise static manufacturing tolerances, as the system can be tuned after assembly.
3Reliability
If the thickness of liquid crystal lens is increased to improve lens effect, then the optical performance is enhanced, but the device becomes thicker
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes a stacked multi-layer configuration where each layer contributes to the overall lens effect. By arranging LC units with different layouts in multiple layers, the system achieves enhanced optical performance through phase accumulation without requiring a proportional increase in the overall lens thickness, effectively decoupling optical performance from physical thickness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs thin film technology in the form of multiple thin LC layers stacked together. Each layer is a thin film that can be precisely controlled, and their combined effect achieves the desired lens performance without the need for a single thick LC layer, thus maintaining a compact overall thickness while enhancing optical capabilities.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design enables better optical performance by accumulating phase profiles from multiple LC units, expanding the design possibilities of LC lenses and enhancing their functionality in imaging systems without increasing thickness.
Implementation Method 1
electrically tunable liquid crystal (LC) layer structure
Implementation Method 2
refractive index is electrically tunable
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid crystal (LC) lens comprises a first substrate, a first electrode structure, an electrically tunable LC layer structure, a second substrate and a second electrode structure, wherein the electrically tunable LC layer structure is arranged between the first substrate and the second substrate. The electrically tunable LC layer structure includes at least two LC layers stacked on top of one another, and each LC layer further includes at least one LC unit. In the stacked structure, at least one of the LC layers includes at least one partition unit to partition the LC layer into one or more LC units. The layout of the LC units of the upper LC layer differs from that of the lower LC layer. In the present invention, the shape and layout of the LC units are designed to provide better optical performance without changing the thickness of the liquid crystal lens.