Lensvector Inc.

UniversitÈ Laval

Other

Karen Asatryan

Tigran Galstian

Vladimir Presniakov

Armen Zohrabyan

Amir Tork

Aram Bagramyan

Simon Careau

Marco Thiboutot

Peter P Clark

Behzad Khodadad

Ted J Cooper

Michael James Nystrom

Gongjian Hu

Bahram Afshari

Jeffrey James Parker

Chong I Cheang

Sergei Y Yakovenko

Jacques Godin

Armen Zohrabian

Aram Bagramian

Aram Babramyan

Liquid crystal light beam control devices and their manufacture are described. Beneficial aspects of beam broadening devices employed for controlled illumination and architectural purposes are presented including improving beam divergence control, improving beam broadening dynamic range control, beam divergence preconditioning, improving projected beam intensity uniformity.

Liquid crystal beam control device

A lighting device using a liquid crystal beam modulator produces good broadening of a light beam. The liquid crystal cell has a patterned electrode structure having a pattern of paired electrodes on a first one of a pair of cell substrates for providing a spatially modulated electric field extending into a liquid crystal material, and the cell is arranged with respect to a light source so that an incident beam will arrive through another of the pair of substrates and exit from the first one of the pair of substrates.

Liquid crystal beam control device generating flat-top distribution

A liquid crystal optical device providing refractive Fresnel lens type element control over light passing through an aperture is provided. The device includes a layer of liquid crystal material contained by flat substrates having flat alignment layers; and an arrangement of electrodes configured to provide a spatially varying voltage distribution within a number of lensing zones within said liquid crystal layer. The arrangement of electrodes includes ring-shaped electrodes defining boundaries between Fresnel lensing zones. The liquid crystal optical device is structured to provide a spatial variation in the optical phase delay with an abrupt transition at a boundary between lensing zones to increase the effective aperture of the optical device.

Controllable liquid crystal layered Fresnel lens device

A variable light beam is provided from a light source. The light source can be an LED light source or other source. The light source includes basic collimation optics, such as reflector or Fresnel lens, an electrically controllable LC device, such as a polydisperse LC film, in front of the incident spot light beam. Preferably the polydisperse LC film includes transparent flat uniform electrode layers. The LC device can be autonomous of the light source. The proposed solution provides a dynamically controllable, preferably polarizer-free and pixel-free, beam shape light source module including a controllable light beam control module and a light source module providing the initial light beam in a scanner light source, a camera flash, an architectural, automobile or industrial lighting device.

Liquid crystal dynamic beam control device and manufacture

Liquid crystal light beam broadening devices and their manufacture are described. Beneficial aspects of beam broadening devices employed for controlled illumination and architectural purposes are presented including providing symmetric beam broadening, improving the beam intensity profile, beam divergence preconditioning and improving projected beam intensity uniformity. Both beam control devices having in-plane and homeotropic ground state liquid crystal alignment are presented.

LC beam broadening device with improved beam symmetry

A liquid crystal optical device is described configured to provide variable beam steering or refractive Fresnel lens control over light passing through an aperture of the device. The device includes at least one layer of liquid crystal material contained by substrates having alignment layers. An arrangement of electrodes is configured to provide a spatially varying electric field distribution within a number of zones within the liquid crystal layer. The liquid crystal optical device is structured to provide a spatial variation in optical phase delay with a transition at a boundary between zones which is an approximation of a sawtooth waveform across the boundaries of multiple zones. The arrangement of electrodes, device layered geometry and methods of driving the electrodes increase the effective aperture of the overall optical device.

Liquid crystal beam control device with improved zone transition and method of manufacture thereof

A liquid crystal optical device is provided including at least two LC cells. A first LC cell layer has a predominant director orientation imparting a transversally non-uniform phase delay to a first polarization of an unpolarized incident light field passing therethrough while incident light of a second polarization orthogonal to the first light polarization passes therethrough undergoing transversally uniform phase delay. The first LC cell is configured to project a center extraordinary ray onto an optical axis of the device at the image surface. A second LC cell layer has a predominant director oriented orthogonally to the other predominant director in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis. The second LC layer imparts a transversally non-uniform phase delay to the second polarization of the incident light passing therethrough, the second LC cell being configured to project a center ordinary ray onto the optical axis at the image surface.

Methods and apparatus for focus improvement in multiple liquid crystal cell lenses

An auto-focus system employing a tunable liquid crystal lens is provided that collects images at different optical power values as the liquid crystal molecules are excited between a ground state and a maximum optical power state tracking image focus scores. An image is acquired at a desired optical power value less than maximum optical power established with the liquid crystal molecules closer a fully excited state than the maximum optical power state having the same image focus score. This drive signal employed during image acquisition uses more power than was used to achieve the same optical power value during the auto-focus scan, while actively driving the liquid crystal molecules is fast. A pause due to image transfer/processing delays after acquisition is employed to allow slow relaxation of the liquid crystal molecules back to the ground state in preparation for a subsequent focus search.

In-flight auto focus method and system for tunable liquid crystal optical element

Methods and apparatus for testing operation of a single or multiple tunable active optical device(s) operated by one or more driving electrodes are described. Test methods and apparatus are provided for device testing without necessarily requiring direct physical contact with the driving electrodes. Testing subjects devices to incident light along an optical path and to an external electric field applied to the device producing a dipolar charge distribution within the electrodes, causing the device to operate. The effect of device operation on incident light is optically sensed. The sensed effect is analyzed to identify device defects. Test methods and apparatus are provided for testing multiple unsingulated devices during fabrication employing a strip contact structure having contact strips connected to multiple devices and extending to wafer edges, such that singulating devices leaves portions of the strip contact structure exposed on device dice edges providing electrical contacts in use.

Method and apparatus for testing operation of an optical liquid crystal device

A liquid crystal optical device is provided, including a layered structure including at least two support substrates. An external hole patterned control electrode is provided on one of the substrates and has an aperture. An internal hole patterned control electrode is provided on one of the substrates within the aperture, the internal and outer control electrodes being separated by a gap, which forms part of the aperture. A weakly conductive material is provided on one of the substrates over the aperture. A planar transparent electrode is provided on another one of the substrates. An alignment surface is provided on the substrates over the electrodes. A layer of liquid crystal material is contained by the substrates and in contact with the alignment surface of the substrates. A floating transparent electrode is provided on a side of one of the substrates opposite the outer and the internal hole patterned electrode.

Liquid crystal optical device with advanced electric field control capability

Variable liquid crystal devices for controlling the propagation of light through a liquid crystal layer use a frequency dependent material to dynamically reconfigure effective electrode structures in the device. The drive signal source uses pulse-width modulation to set a frequency and an amplitude of the drive signal.

Electro-optical devices using dynamic reconfiguration of effective electrode structures

A spatially non-uniform electrode structure is proposed for controlling a spatially non-uniform electric field driving a tunable liquid crystal lens. The spatially non-uniform electrode structure enables the generation of a predetermined spatially non-uniform electric field profile where complex capacitive coupling between multiple different electrically floating neighboring electrode segments is employed for the generation of the electrical field of desired form by supplying an initial electric potential to a limited number of electrodes.

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Karen Asatryan