A fast-response and helicity-dependent lens enabled by micro-patterned dual-frequency liquid crystals

Abstract

Liquid crystals are excellent candidates for tunable optical elements due to their large birefringence and continuous tunability by external fields. A dual-frequency liquid crystal lens integrated with Pancharatnam-Berry phase was fabricated via a dynamic photo-patterning technique. The proposed lens exhibited distinctive polarization-dependent characteristics and ultra-high efficiency rates of up to 95%. Via merely alternating the frequency of the applied electric field, the switching time between unfocused and focused states was measured in submilliseconds. This work supplies a new strategy for fast-response, high-efficiency and helicity-dependent lens with merits of easy fabrication and low power consumption.