Dynamic compensation of gradient index rod lens aberrations by using liquid crystals

An electrically variable liquid crystal lens is used to compensate the aberrations of commercial gradient index rod lenses used for deep brain endoscopy. This is achieved by the use of a weakly conductive layer in the so-called "modal control" lens approach with a segmented peripheral electrode. The root mean square aberrations of the system are reduced by a factor of 4.3. The proposed solution can be used in many photonic applications using fixed optical components with high aberrations that have significant sample-to-sample variability. (C) 2018 Optical Society of America.