Polarisation independent liquid crystal lenses and contact lenses using embossed reactive mesogens

Abstract

Liquid crystal lenses have promise in optical systems owing to their tunability combined with low electrical power, cost, and weight. A good example of such a system is switchable contact lenses for the correction of age-related presbyopia. Sufficiently large phase modulation can be done using nematic liquid crystals in a meniscus lens configuration. However, the birefringent materials are inherently polarisation dependent, usually requiring orthogonal polarisations to be focussed separately. A novel method is presented for producing polarisation independent lenses based on reactive mesogens. Results are presented for a 2-level and 3-level diffractive Fresnel lenses, and the promise of the technique for use in refractive lenses such as contact lenses is discussed.