Mukherjee S, Yuan ZN, Sun ZB, Li AR, Kang CB, Kwok HS, Srivastava AK. Fast refocusing lens based on ferroelectric liquid crystals.
OPTICS EXPRESS 2021;
29:8258-8267. [PMID:
33820275 DOI:
10.1364/oe.417112]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Accepted: 02/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Optical devices like virtual reality (VR) headsets present challenges in terms of vergence-accommodation conflict that leads to visual fatigue for the user over time. Lenses available to meet these challenges include liquid crystal (LC) lenses, which possess a response time in the millisecond range. This response time is slow, while accessing multiple focal lengths. A ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) has a response time in the microsecond range. In this article, we disclose a switchable lens device having a combination of the fast FLC-based polarization rotation unit and a passive polarization-dependent LC lens. A cascaded combination of three such lens units allows access to eight different focal points quite rapidly and can be a convenient device for VR applications.
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