Refractive Fresnel liquid crystal lenses driven by two voltages

Abstract

We propose and demonstrate a high-performance refractive Fresnel liquid crystal (LC) lens with a simple electrode design. The interconnected circular electrodes enable the creation of a parabolic voltage distribution within each Fresnel zone using only two driving voltages. By controlling these voltages within the linear response region of LC material, the desired parabolic phase profile can be achieved. We provide a detailed discussion on the electrode structure design methodology and operating principles of the lens. In our experiments, we constructed a four-zone Fresnel LC lens with a total aperture of 8 mm. The results show that the optical power of the lens can be continuously adjusted from −1.30 D to +1.33 D. Throughout the process of electrically tuning the optical power, the phase distribution within each Fresnel zone maintains a parabolic profile. These results demonstrate the high-performance of the proposed Fresnel LC lens.