10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
△ [18a-231B-3] 【Highlighted Presentation】Optical characteristics of a liquid crystal lens using ultrasonic vibration
Keywords:ulrasonic, lens, liquid crystal
Liquid crystals have both liquid properties and crystalline material anisotropies because the liquid crystal molecules have directors. Nematic liquid crystals have high liquidity and are widely used in industrial products such as liquid crystal displays because their molecular orientations can be controlled easily using an external field. In general, transparent electrodes are required for liquid crystal devices to allow electric fields to be applied through the liquid crystal layer to control its molecular orientation. Indium tin oxide (ITO) is commonly used as a transparent electrode material because of its high transparency. However, ITO contains the rare metal indium, and ITO electrodes are generally fabricated by sputter deposition, which has both high equipment costs and complex processing requirements.Our group has therefore been investigating techniques for control of liquid crystal molecular orientations using ultrasound which require no transparent electrodes.
In this study, we evaluate optical characteristics of a liquid crystal lens using ultrasonic vibration is discussed. The lens uses a technique based on ultrasonic vibration to control the molecular orientation of the liquid crystal. The lens has no mechanical moving parts and no transparent electrodes, which is helpful for device downsizing. The structure consists of a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between two glass substrates and having an ultrasonic PZT. The tens-of-kHz ultrasonic resonance flexural vibration used to excite the lens generates an acoustic radiation force on the liquid crystal layer to induce changes in the molecular orientation of the liquid crystal. The orientations of the liquid crystal molecules and the optical characteristics of the lens were investigated under ultrasound excitation.
In this study, we evaluate optical characteristics of a liquid crystal lens using ultrasonic vibration is discussed. The lens uses a technique based on ultrasonic vibration to control the molecular orientation of the liquid crystal. The lens has no mechanical moving parts and no transparent electrodes, which is helpful for device downsizing. The structure consists of a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between two glass substrates and having an ultrasonic PZT. The tens-of-kHz ultrasonic resonance flexural vibration used to excite the lens generates an acoustic radiation force on the liquid crystal layer to induce changes in the molecular orientation of the liquid crystal. The orientations of the liquid crystal molecules and the optical characteristics of the lens were investigated under ultrasound excitation.