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Numerical modelling of a tunable liquid-crystal-polymer lens

Numerical modelling of a tunable liquid-crystal-polymer lens
Numerical modelling of a tunable liquid-crystal-polymer lens
A gradient polymer stabilized liquid crystal (G-PSLC) structure has recently beenproposed for a tunable-focus lens application. A homogeneously-oriented nematic liquid crystal (NLC) cell, doped by a few percent of photopolymerizable monomer, is initially illuminated by a laser beam with a Gaussian spatial intensity distribution. This induces a spatially inhomogeneous polymer network in the cell. The electro-optical response of this system to a uniform electric field exhibits an inhomogeneous circularly symmetric pattern. The radial distribution of the effective refractive index possesses a maximum in the center of the beam. This cell acts as a positive focal length lens on the extraordinary polarized light component passing through it. The profile of the refractive index in the plane of the cell can be changed by varying the voltage across the cell. Thus the focal length of the lens changes with voltage. Here we present a numerical approach to our earlier theoretical model. The model describes the dependence of the focal length of the G-PSLC lens on applied voltage. The new feature of the model is that we have used several trial functions for the form of the polymer profile. The director profile in the cell was determined as a function of voltage. The model qualitatively agrees with the experimental data. The results can be applied to develop G-PSLC lenses with no moving parts and permit electro-optical zooming
liquid crystals, optics, tunable lenses
1542-1406
40-53
Subota, Svitlana L.
127d9208-11f5-4863-8413-ff40cbf0188d
Reshetnyak, Victor Yu
cfa84aa7-1edb-4583-95cd-36fa3058a976
Pavliuchenko, Svitlana P.
aabea8f4-87f9-4d9d-ac20-1317f436d593
Sluckin, Timothy J.
8dbb6b08-7034-4ae2-aa65-6b80072202f6
Subota, Svitlana L.
127d9208-11f5-4863-8413-ff40cbf0188d
Reshetnyak, Victor Yu
cfa84aa7-1edb-4583-95cd-36fa3058a976
Pavliuchenko, Svitlana P.
aabea8f4-87f9-4d9d-ac20-1317f436d593
Sluckin, Timothy J.
8dbb6b08-7034-4ae2-aa65-6b80072202f6

Subota, Svitlana L., Reshetnyak, Victor Yu, Pavliuchenko, Svitlana P. and Sluckin, Timothy J. (2008) Numerical modelling of a tunable liquid-crystal-polymer lens. Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, 489, 40-53. (doi:10.1080/15421400802219866).

Record type: Article

Abstract

A gradient polymer stabilized liquid crystal (G-PSLC) structure has recently beenproposed for a tunable-focus lens application. A homogeneously-oriented nematic liquid crystal (NLC) cell, doped by a few percent of photopolymerizable monomer, is initially illuminated by a laser beam with a Gaussian spatial intensity distribution. This induces a spatially inhomogeneous polymer network in the cell. The electro-optical response of this system to a uniform electric field exhibits an inhomogeneous circularly symmetric pattern. The radial distribution of the effective refractive index possesses a maximum in the center of the beam. This cell acts as a positive focal length lens on the extraordinary polarized light component passing through it. The profile of the refractive index in the plane of the cell can be changed by varying the voltage across the cell. Thus the focal length of the lens changes with voltage. Here we present a numerical approach to our earlier theoretical model. The model describes the dependence of the focal length of the G-PSLC lens on applied voltage. The new feature of the model is that we have used several trial functions for the form of the polymer profile. The director profile in the cell was determined as a function of voltage. The model qualitatively agrees with the experimental data. The results can be applied to develop G-PSLC lenses with no moving parts and permit electro-optical zooming

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More information

Published date: September 2008
Keywords: liquid crystals, optics, tunable lenses

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 79822
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/79822
ISSN: 1542-1406
PURE UUID: c755b097-8484-4c86-bab1-02f7503b06aa
ORCID for Timothy J. Sluckin: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9163-0061

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 22 Mar 2010
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:31

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Contributors

Author: Svitlana L. Subota
Author: Victor Yu Reshetnyak
Author: Svitlana P. Pavliuchenko

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