2017/07/03 by Yi‐Hsin Lin, Yu-Jen Wang, Victor Reshetnyak · 1 citation
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Liquid Crystal Research Advancements #Orbital Angular Momentum in Optics #Photonic Crystals and Applications
paper · doi:10.1080/21680396.2018.1440256
openalex publication_date 2017/07/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Lenses with tunable focal length play important roles in nature by helping species avoid predators and capture prey. Many practical devices mimic lens concept for imaging, sensing, and detection. This review covers fundamental optics of lenses and its extension to lenses made of liquid crystals (LCs). Three main types of LC lenses are described, namely, lenses with curved surfaces, flat gradient-index lenses and composite lenses. The review discusses advantages of LC lenses over their isotropic counterparts, challenges in their fabrication and control, as well as a variety of potential applications. We also discuss the current challenges associated with nematic LC lenses and their solutions. LC lenses are already having significant impacts on optics and optometry, and these impacts will grow with discovering new LC materials and new lens designs.