Milton, HE, Nagaraj, M, Kaur, S et al. (3 more authors) (2014) Field-induced refractive index variation in the dark conglomerate phase for polarization-independent switchable liquid crystal lenses. Applied Optics, 53 (31). 7278 - 7232. ISSN 1559-128X
Abstract
Liquid crystal lenses are an emerging technology that can provide variable focal power in response to applied voltage. Many designs for liquid-crystal-based lenses are polarization dependent, so that 50% of light is not focused as required, making polarization-independent technologies very attractive. Recently, the dark conglomerate (DC) phase, which is an optically isotropic liquid crystalline state, has been shown to exhibit a large change in refractive index in response to an applied electric field (Δ =0.04). This paper describes computational modeling of the electrostatic solutions for two different types of 100 μm diameter liquid crystal lenses, which include the DC phase, demonstrating that it shows great potential for efficient isotropic optical switching in lenses. A feature of the field dependence of the refractive index change in the DC phase is that it is approximately linear in a certain range, leading to the prediction of excellent optical quality for driving fields in this regime. Interestingly, a simulated microlens is shown to exhibit two modes of operation: a positive lens based upon a uniform bulk change in refractive index at high voltages, and a negative lens resulting from the induction of a gradient index effect at intermediate voltages.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2014 Optical Society of America. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modifications of the content of this paper are prohibited. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Physics & Astronomy Visitors (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Soft Matter Physics (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC EP/L015188/2 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 21 Oct 2015 10:00 |
Last Modified: | 23 Oct 2015 05:37 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/AO.53.007278 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Optical Society of America |
Identification Number: | 10.1364/AO.53.007278 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:86441 |