Adaptive lens for foveal vision, imaging, and projection over large clear apertures

We report an electrically tunable liquid crystal device that enables the generation of lenses the diameters of which may be dynamically changed from sub-millimeter to multiple millimeter sizes. These lenses can be created in different regions of interest over very large (above 50 mm) optical clear apertures. The approach is based on the activation of periodically spaced contacts on a single serpentine-shaped electrode with phase-shifted electrical signals. It enables a highly reconfigurable operation of locally created lenses with variable position, diameter, optical power (OP) and aberrations. The preliminary demonstration of the capabilities of the proposed device is presented here by creating a local lens, moving its center over an area of 25 mm x 25 mm, gradually changing its diameter from 1.3 mm to 4.55 mm as well as by tuning its OP value from zero up to, respectively, ≈ 40 and ≈3.5 diopters. Typical driving signals are at the order of 3.5 V. We think that such lenses can be used for ophthalmic or augmented reality applications as well as in microscopy, adaptive panoramic cameras with large distorted field of view, dynamic projection, etc.