Hsi-Fu SHIH^1*, Di-Ying WU¹, Chuen-Lin TIEN², and Ching-Liang DAI¹

¹Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan, R.O.C.
²Department of Electrical Engineering, Feng Chia University, Taichung 407, Taiwan, R.O.C.

(Received August 22, 2012; Accepted December 10, 2012)

We propose an optical compensator configuration with switchable modes by combining the polymer stabilized liquid crystal (PSLC) technology with the novel electrode design. It could be applied to a fixed-focus lens module for providing the defocus compensation of an optical imaging system. The device has two operation modes that can be switched by the electrode connection and provide respective optical retardation effects. It was designed by using the optical simulation tool and fabricated by using the standard photolithographic processes, the liquid crystal (LC) cell assembly procedure, and the particular ultra-violet (UV) exposure steps. The device was implemented and experimental results qualitatively showed its feasibility for realizing the capability of switching different compensation modes.

Key words: gradient refractive index, liquid crystal device, optical compensator, polymer stabilized liquid crystal

^*E-mail address: hfshih@nchu.edu.tw