Abstract

Liquid crystal (LC) lenses with weakly conductive thin films are known to have driving voltages of several volts, which are much smaller than those of devices without them; however, their response characteristics have not been investigated in much detail. Here, we show that low-voltage LC lenses, with the help of an overdrive pulse, can show response times of several 10 ms, which are comparable with voice coil motors currently used for focus-tuning of mobile cameras. We provide data on the lens power as well as real images captured using a lens module and a camera; we also present a compact circuit design that can boost a $3.5{\mathrm{V}}_{\mathrm{rms}}$ square pulse from a mobile battery to $15{\mathrm{V}}_{\mathrm{rms}}$. The results of this study should accelerate the use of LC lenses in mobile applications.

© 2015 Optical Society of America

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