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Electrically Tunable Printed Bifocal Liquid Crystal Microlens Arrays
Author(s) -
Kamal Waqas,
Lin JiaDe,
Elston Steve J.,
Ali Taimoor,
CastrejónPita Alfonso A.,
Morris Stephen M.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced materials interfaces
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.671
H-Index - 65
ISSN - 2196-7350
DOI - 10.1002/admi.202000578
Subject(s) - homeotropic alignment , materials science , focal length , microlens , liquid crystal , optics , substrate (aquarium) , liquid crystal display , electric field , indium tin oxide , optoelectronics , fabrication , drop (telecommunication) , distortion (music) , layer (electronics) , nanotechnology , lens (geology) , electrical engineering , medicine , amplifier , oceanography , physics , alternative medicine , quantum mechanics , pathology , engineering , cmos , geology
In this communication, the fabrication of electrically tunable bifocal liquid crystal (LC) microlenses using drop‐on‐demand inkjet printing is demonstrated. By treating the glass substrate with a homeotropic alignment layer, the printed droplets are found to form plano‐convex lenses with focal lengths in the range of 220–463 µm, depending upon the number of droplets deposited at each location on the substrate. The precision of the process allows for the microlenses to be deposited in between in‐plane indium tin oxide electrodes. In the presence of a high amplitude electric field, the director within the LC droplets is observed to align with the direction of the applied field, but without any accompanying distortion in the droplet profile. However, these changes in the LC director alignment are found to result in a bifocal behavior rather than a continuous change in the focal length. It is also found that there exists a range of voltages for which two focal planes are observed.