Adaptive liquid crystal lens with large focal length tunability

We demonstrate a tunable-focus lens using a spherical glass shell and a homogeneous liquid crystal ( LC) cell. The inner surface of the glass shell and the bottom surface of the LC cell are coated with indium tin oxide ( ITO) electrodes while the LC layer is sandwiched between the spherical and flat ITO electrodes. When a voltage is applied to the electrodes, a centro-symmetric gradient refractive index is generated within the LC layer and the focusing behavior occurs. Based on our analysis, the focal length tunability of the LC lens depends significantly on the filled material in the sag region. For the air-filled LC lens we designed, its focal length can be tuned from infinity to similar to 96 cm. A method for reducing the operating voltage is proposed. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.