Adaptive liquid crystal iris enabled by self-assembled polymer gravels

In this work, a self-assembled polymer gravel-based liquid crystal (LC) iris is presented, leveraging a vertically aligned twisted LC cell with a radial gradient in pretilt angles, sandwiched between crossed polarizers. The resulting structure enables electrically tunable aperture control with a low operating voltage and simplified fabrication compared to polymer-dispersed LCs or hole-patterned electrode systems. The LC iris achieves a high aperture tuning ratio, with the aperture diameter tunable from 3.5 mm to complete closure at 20 V. The device's performances, including voltage-dependent aperture modulation and its practical image functionality, are demonstrated. This LC-based adaptive iris offers a compact, energy-efficient solution for dynamic optical control in applications such as adaptive optics and imaging systems.