CN109870864B - Optical lens, method for manufacturing same, and optical device - Google Patents

Abstract

Optical lens and its preparation method and optical device. The present invention provides a liquid crystal lens, a manufacturing method thereof, and an optical device. The liquid crystal lens includes an alignment layer and a stacked upper substrate, a liquid crystal layer and a lower substrate, wherein the alignment layer includes an upper alignment layer and a lower alignment layer, and the The upper alignment layer is arranged between the upper substrate and the liquid crystal layer, the lower alignment layer is arranged between the liquid crystal layer and the lower substrate, and the liquid crystal lens is divided into a plurality of alignment regions, a plurality of The alignment directions of the alignment layers in the alignment regions are different. Therefore, through the regional orientation, only one layer of liquid crystal cells is needed to achieve the purpose of modulating natural light, and the thickness of the liquid crystal lens is relatively thin, which is in line with the development trend of light and thin.

Description

Optical lens and preparation method thereof and optical device

technical field

The invention relates to the technical field of liquid crystal optics, in particular, to an optical lens, a preparation method thereof, and an optical device.

Background technique

Liquid crystal display is a large-scale display device. It has a series of advantages such as high color gamut, lightness and thinness, and fast response time. It has mature technology in theoretical research and practical technology. With the deepening of people's understanding of liquid crystal optics, liquid crystal is not only used in the display field, but the research on some liquid crystal optical devices is gradually deepening, including liquid crystal lens, liquid crystal prism, liquid crystal Fresnel lens and so on.

Since the liquid crystal molecules are similar to the characteristics of uniaxial crystals, most liquid crystal optical devices can only modulate a single linearly polarized light, while natural light includes a variety of linearly polarized light. The production of liquid crystal optical devices that can modulate natural light has become the main direction of current research. At present, the main method is to use a double-layer liquid crystal cell structure, and the two-layer liquid crystal cells are cross-aligned. However, this method requires the production of two-layer liquid crystal cells. Conducive to thinning.

Therefore, the current research related to liquid crystal optical devices still needs to be in-depth.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention aims to solve one of the technical problems in the related art at least to a certain extent. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal lens that can modulate natural light, has a thin thickness, or is easy to drive.

In one aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a liquid crystal lens. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the liquid crystal lens includes an alignment layer and a stacked upper substrate, a liquid crystal layer and a lower substrate, wherein the alignment layer includes an upper alignment layer and a lower alignment layer, and the upper alignment layer is disposed on the Between the upper substrate and the liquid crystal layer, the lower alignment layer is disposed between the liquid crystal layer and the lower substrate, and the liquid crystal lens is divided into a plurality of alignment regions, and all of the alignment regions are divided into a plurality of alignment regions. The orientation directions of the orientation layers are different. Therefore, through the regional orientation, only one layer of liquid crystal cells is needed to achieve the purpose of modulating natural light, and at the same time, the thickness of the liquid crystal lens is relatively thin, which is in line with the development trend of light and thin.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of the alignment regions are a plurality of strip-shaped alignment regions arranged along the first direction, and the optical path difference of two adjacent strip-shaped alignment regions differs by half a wavelength, so that the plurality of The strip-shaped alignment regions constitute cylindrical Fresnel lenses.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the alignment directions of the alignment layers in two adjacent strip-shaped alignment regions are perpendicular to each other.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of the alignment regions are a plurality of concentric annular alignment regions, and the optical path difference of two adjacent concentric annular alignment regions differs by half a wavelength, so that a plurality of the concentric annular alignment regions have a difference of half a wavelength. The annular orientation region constitutes a circular Fresnel lens.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the alignment direction of the alignment layer in one of the two adjacent concentric annular alignment regions is the radial direction of the concentric annular alignment region, and the two adjacent concentric annular alignment regions are aligned in the radial direction. The orientation direction of the alignment layer in the other one of the annular orientation regions is the tangential direction of the concentric annular orientation regions.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the thickness h of the liquid crystal layer satisfies Δnh=λ/2, where Δn=ne-no, ne is the refractive index of the liquid crystal molecules perpendicular to the long axis, and no is the liquid crystal molecules parallel to the long axis direction of refractive index, λ is a predetermined wavelength.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the materials of the upper alignment layer and the lower alignment layer are photo-alignment materials.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the photo-alignment material is a rewritable photo-alignment material.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the photo-alignment material includes an azobenzene-based material.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the liquid crystal lens further includes an upper electrode and a lower electrode, the upper electrode is arranged between the upper substrate and the upper alignment layer, and the lower electrode is arranged between the lower substrate and the upper alignment layer. between the lower alignment layers.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the liquid crystal lens further includes a compensation film disposed between the upper substrate and the upper electrode layer for compensating for optical dispersion.

In another aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a method of fabricating the aforementioned liquid crystal lens. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method includes: forming an alignment material layer on one surface of the upper substrate and one surface of the lower substrate respectively; performing a zone alignment treatment on the alignment material layer to form an alignment layer; Cell aligning processing is performed on the upper substrate and the lower substrate of the alignment layer to obtain the liquid crystal lens. The preparation method is simple, convenient and easy for industrial production, and the obtained liquid crystal lens can modulate natural light with only one layer of liquid crystal cells, and the thickness is relatively thin, which conforms to the development trend of light and thin.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the zonal alignment treatment is performed by any one of the following steps (1) to (3): (1) the material of the alignment layer is a photo-alignment material, and the zonal alignment treatment includes: : performing a first photo-alignment treatment on a part of the alignment material layer in the alignment region, and performing a second photo-alignment treatment on the alignment material layer in another part of the alignment region, wherein the first photo-alignment treatment The alignment directions of the treatment and the second photo-alignment treatment are different; (2) the material of the alignment layer is a rewritable photo-alignment material, and the sub-area alignment treatment includes: subjecting the entire layer of the alignment material layer to a third light Alignment treatment, performing fourth photo-alignment treatment on the alignment material layer in part of the alignment region that has undergone the third photo-alignment treatment, wherein the third photo-alignment treatment and the fourth photo-alignment treatment The alignment directions are different; (3) the material of the alignment layer is a photo-alignment material, and the sub-region alignment treatment includes: performing a fifth photo-alignment treatment on the alignment material layer by dot matrix exposure.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, before forming the alignment layer, further comprising: forming an upper electrode layer on the one surface of the upper substrate; and forming a lower electrode layer on the one surface of the lower substrate .

In yet another aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides an optical device. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the optical device includes the liquid crystal lens described above. By using the aforementioned liquid crystal lens, the natural light can be modulated while having a thinner thickness, which is in line with the development trend of light and thin.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional structure diagram of a liquid crystal lens according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a liquid crystal layer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a liquid crystal layer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of a liquid crystal layer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5A is a schematic structural diagram of a circular Fresnel lens, wherein the upper diagram is a schematic diagram of a plane structure, and the lower diagram is a schematic diagram of a cross-sectional structure.

FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram of the light collecting principle of a circular Fresnel lens.

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a cylindrical Fresnel lens, wherein the upper diagram is a schematic diagram of a plane structure, and the lower diagram is a schematic diagram of a cross-sectional structure.

7 is a schematic cross-sectional structure diagram of a liquid crystal lens according to an embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a schematic cross-sectional structure diagram of a liquid crystal lens according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below. The embodiments described below are exemplary, only for explaining the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. If no specific technique or condition is indicated in the examples, the technique or condition described in the literature in the field or the product specification is used.

The present invention provides a liquid crystal lens. According to an embodiment of the present invention, referring to FIG. 1 , the liquid crystal lens includes an alignment layer, an upper substrate 10 , a liquid crystal layer 40 and a lower substrate 70 arranged in layers, wherein the alignment layer includes an upper alignment layer 30 and a lower alignment layer 50 , The upper alignment layer 30 is disposed between the upper substrate 10 and the liquid crystal layer 40, the lower alignment layer 50 is disposed between the liquid crystal layer 40 and the lower substrate 70, and the liquid crystal lens is divided into There are a plurality of alignment regions 42, and the alignment directions of the liquid crystal molecules in the plurality of alignment regions 42 are different. Therefore, by zoning orientation, only one layer of liquid crystal cells is needed to achieve the purpose of modulating natural light, and at the same time, the thickness of the liquid crystal lens is relatively thin, which is in line with the development trend of thinning.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the specific materials of the upper substrate and the lower substrate are not particularly limited, for example, including but not limited to glass substrates, polymer substrates, etc., and the specific thickness, shape, size, etc. can also be based on the use environment of the liquid crystal lens. and requirements, and will not be repeated here.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, the specific shapes of the plurality of alignment regions 42 can be flexibly selected according to actual needs. At least one of a ring shape (refer to FIG. 3 ), a circle (refer to FIG. 4 ), a regular polygon, or an irregular polygon. As a result, different lens effects can be achieved to meet the use requirements of different conditions, and the scope of application is wider.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, referring to FIG. 3 , a plurality of the alignment regions 42 are a plurality of concentric annular alignment regions, and the optical path difference of two adjacent concentric annular alignment regions differs by half a wavelength, so that the A plurality of the concentric annular orientation regions constitute a circular Fresnel lens (or called an annular Fresnel lens). Therefore, the liquid crystal lens can achieve the effect of a Fresnel lens, can exert good light-converging performance and imaging performance, and at the same time can make the liquid crystal lens have a small thickness, so as to meet the requirements of lightness and thinning.

It is well known to those skilled in the art that conventional circular Fresnel lenses (see FIG. 5A for the schematic diagram of the structure, and FIG. 5B for the schematic diagram of the principle of concentrating light) are mostly thin sheets made of polyolefin materials, and some are also made of glass. One side is a smooth surface, and the other side is engraved with concentric circles from small to large to form multiple concentric rings (ie Fresnel strips). Its texture is based on light interference, interference, relative sensitivity and receiving angle requirements. Specifically, referring to FIG. 5A , the optical path difference of two adjacent concentric rings differs by half a wavelength, or the multiple concentric rings are sequentially numbered 1, 2, 3... from the inside to the outside, and the odd-numbered rings are the same as The optical path difference of the even-numbered rings differs by an integral multiple of half the wavelength, so that the light passing through the Fresnel lens is coherent and constructive light, which achieves good light focusing and imaging effects. In the embodiment of the present invention, by orienting the liquid crystal layer by region, a plurality of alignment regions are distributed according to the concentric rings of the Fresnel lens, and the optical path difference of two adjacent alignment regions of the concentric rings is different. Half a wavelength, that is, the alignment regions of multiple concentric rings are numbered 1, 2, 3... from the inside to the outside, and the optical path difference between the odd-numbered rings and the even-numbered rings differs by half a wavelength to form a circular Fresnel lens, liquid crystal The thickness of the layer, the size of the concentric rings, the refractive index of the liquid crystal, etc. can all be selected according to the usage requirements of the circular Fresnel lens.

d_j＝r_j-r_j-1，基于上述公式，可以确定液晶透镜的相关参数。According to some specific embodiments of the present invention, referring to FIG. 5A , the parameters when the liquid crystal lens forms a circular Fresnel lens can be determined through the following steps: according to a preselected predetermined wavelength λ and a liquid crystal refractive index (ne: the liquid crystal molecules are perpendicular to each other) The refractive index in the long axis direction, no: the refractive index of the liquid crystal molecules parallel to the long axis direction) determines the thickness h (or called the liquid crystal cell thickness) of the liquid crystal layer in the liquid crystal lens, and then determines the amount of liquid crystal, and then according to the above predetermined wavelength. λ, the focal length f of the liquid crystal lens, calculate the concentric circle radius r _j (j represents the number of the above-mentioned concentric circles, j=1, 2, 3...,), and then determine the width d _j of each ring. Specifically, in order to further improve the liquid crystal lens The use performance of , and at the same time make it have a smaller thickness, the thickness h of the liquid crystal layer can satisfy Δnh=λ/2, where Δn=ne-no, and according to the optical principle of the lens,

d _j =r _j -r _j-1 , based on the above formula, the relevant parameters of the liquid crystal lens can be determined.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, in order to make the circular Fresnel lens formed by the liquid crystal lens have better diffraction efficiency, smaller light-converging spot, greater brightness, etc., two adjacent concentric rings can be made The orientation direction of the orientation layer in one of the concentric orientation regions is the radial direction of the concentric annular orientation region, and the orientation direction of the orientation layer in the other of the adjacent two concentric annular orientation regions is the tangential direction of the concentric annular orientation region. Therefore, the cross-sectional views at any angle are the same, and the same optical effect can be achieved, and the use is simpler and more convenient, and the scope of application is wider.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, referring to FIG. 2 , a plurality of the alignment regions 42 are a plurality of strip-shaped alignment regions arranged along the first direction, and the optical path difference of two adjacent strip-shaped alignment regions differs by half a wavelength , so that a plurality of the strip-shaped alignment regions constitute a columnar Fresnel lens. Specifically, refer to FIG. 6 for a schematic structural diagram of a conventional cylindrical Fresnel lens, which is an improvement on the above-mentioned conventional circular Fresnel lens. The circular stripes are adjusted to be arranged horizontally instead of concentric circles. The specific numbering method of the stripes is the same as that of the circular Fresnel lens. In the present invention, the liquid crystal layer is divided into a plurality of strip-shaped alignment regions, so that the plurality of strip-shaped alignment regions meet the requirements of two adjacent columnar Fresnel lenses. The optical path difference of the strip alignment area is different from the optical path difference requirement of half a wavelength, so as to realize the effects of light gathering and imaging of the Fresnel lens. Among them, the thickness of the liquid crystal layer, the size of the concentric rings, the refractive index of the liquid crystal, etc. All can be selected according to the use requirements of the cylindrical Fresnel lens.

d_j＝r_j-r_j-1，基于上述公式，可以确定液晶透镜的相关参数。According to some specific embodiments of the present invention, referring to FIG. 6 , the parameters when the liquid crystal lens forms a cylindrical Fresnel lens can be determined through the following steps: according to a preselected predetermined wavelength λ and a liquid crystal refractive index (ne: the liquid crystal molecules are perpendicular to the The refractive index in the long axis direction, no: the refractive index of the liquid crystal molecules parallel to the long axis direction) determines the thickness h (or called the liquid crystal cell thickness) of the liquid crystal layer in the liquid crystal lens, and then determines the amount of liquid crystal, and then according to the preselected The predetermined wavelength and the focal length f of the liquid crystal lens calculate the distance r _j from the center line of the central stripe to the outer edge of the predetermined stripe (j represents the number of the above-mentioned stripes, j=1, 2, 3...,), and then determine the width of each stripe, Further determine the width d _j of each ring. Specifically, in order to further improve the performance of the liquid crystal lens and make it have a smaller thickness, the thickness h of the liquid crystal layer can be made to satisfy Δnh=λ/2, where Δn=ne -no, while according to the optics of the lens,

d _j =r _j -r _j-1 , based on the above formula, the relevant parameters of the liquid crystal lens can be determined.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, in order to make the columnar Fresnel lens formed by the liquid crystal lens have better diffraction efficiency, smaller light-converging spot, higher brightness, etc. The orientation directions of the orientation layers are perpendicular to each other. Therefore, the diffraction efficiency of the light passing through the Fresnel lens is better, the condensed light spot is smaller, the brightness is higher, and better optical effects can be achieved.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the materials of the upper alignment layer and the lower alignment layer are photo-alignment materials. Therefore, the alignment layer can be easily oriented by different regions by different light irradiation, and the operation is simple and convenient.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the photo-alignment material is a rewritable photo-alignment material. Specifically, after the rewritable photo-alignment material is set to be illuminated once, the photo-alignment material can undergo corresponding structural changes (such as photoisomerization, photo-crosslinking or photodegradation, etc.), so that the liquid crystal molecules are aligned in a predetermined direction, while the The photo-alignment material subjected to the first photo-alignment treatment is subjected to different illumination (such as the polarization direction, power, and the first illumination, etc.), and the photo-alignment material will undergo corresponding structural changes again according to the second illumination, thereby making the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules. Orientation changes. Therefore, it is more simple and convenient to perform the divisional alignment treatment on the alignment layer, the number of masks can be reduced, manpower and material resources, and costs can be saved.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, the photo-alignment materials that can be used include azobenzene-based materials, specifically, high-molecular polymer materials with photosensitive groups such as cinnamic acid and coumarin. As a result, the orientation speed is high, the orientation degree is high, and the orientation stability is good, and at the same time, the materials are widely sourced, readily available, and inexpensive.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, referring to FIG. 7 , the liquid crystal lens may further include an upper electrode 20 and a lower electrode 60 , the upper electrode 20 is disposed between the upper substrate 10 and the upper alignment layer 30 , and the lower The electrode 60 is disposed between the lower substrate 70 and the lower alignment layer 50 . By energizing the upper and lower electrode layers and adjusting the voltage, the deflection direction of the liquid crystal molecules can be adjusted, and the liquid crystal lens can be adjusted more flexibly and conveniently to achieve different optical effects. In some specific embodiments of the present invention, since the liquid crystal lens is divided into a plurality of orientation regions with different orientation directions through the divisional orientation, both the upper electrode layer and the lower electrode layer can be set as transparent surface electrodes. , When the lower electrode layer is energized, the liquid crystal molecules in the entire liquid crystal layer can be deflected in the same direction, so that the liquid crystal lens is equivalent to the role of transparent glass. Act as a lens. Therefore, the driving is simple, electrodes with complex structures are not required, and the preparation process is simple, which is convenient and time-saving.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the material for forming the upper electrode layer and the lower electrode layer can be any transparent conductive material, for example, including but not limited to transparent conductive oxide, specifically, indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, and the like. Therefore, it has better electrical conductivity while having higher light transmittance.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in order to further improve the use effect of the liquid crystal lens and reduce the deviation, referring to FIG. 8 , the liquid crystal lens may further include a compensation film 80 , and the compensation film 80 is disposed on the upper substrate 10 and the upper substrate 10 . between the electrode layers 20 for compensating optical dispersion. Specifically, when setting the specific parameters of the liquid crystal lens, it is usually set with reference to a certain predetermined wavelength of light. Taking the Fresnel lens mentioned above as an example, the Fresnel lens requires a space between two adjacent alignment regions. The optical path difference is half a wavelength, and the wavelength here can choose a predetermined wavelength according to actual needs, because the human eye is most sensitive to green light, and green light is in the middle of the visible light band, moving toward long wavelengths and short wavelengths. There will be no excessive deviation, so in practice, the predetermined wavelength is usually selected as the wavelength of green light (such as 550nm or 589nm, etc.), and at this time, there will be a certain deviation for red light or blue light, in order to compensate for this For the adverse effects caused by the deviation, compensation films with different wavelengths and different refractive indices can be set to compensate for the above deviation (or optical dispersion), thereby improving the optical performance of the liquid crystal lens.

In another aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a method of fabricating the aforementioned liquid crystal lens. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method includes: forming an alignment material layer on one surface of the upper substrate and one surface of the lower substrate respectively; performing a zone alignment treatment on the alignment material layer to form an alignment layer; Cell aligning processing is performed on the upper substrate and the lower substrate of the alignment layer to obtain the liquid crystal lens. The preparation method is simple, convenient and easy for industrial production, and the obtained liquid crystal lens has only one layer of liquid crystal cells, which can realize the effect of adjusting natural light, and meanwhile, the thickness is relatively thin, which conforms to the development trend of light and thin.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, forming the alignment material layer on one surface of the upper substrate and on one surface of the lower substrate respectively may specifically be forming the upper alignment material layer on one surface of the upper substrate, and forming the upper alignment material layer on one surface of the lower substrate The lower alignment material layer, the upper alignment material layer and the lower alignment material layer together constitute the alignment material layer, and the specific method for forming the alignment material layer on the upper substrate and the lower substrate can be a conventional method in the field, such as by coating, spraying , printing, etc. to form an orientation material layer, etc. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the material of the alignment layer is a photo-alignment material, and the zonal alignment treatment is performed by photo-alignment treatment. light, linearly polarized laser, etc.) to irradiate the alignment layer (for example, the alignment material layer on the upper substrate and the lower substrate can be irradiated with light at the same time, or the upper alignment material layer on the upper substrate and the lower substrate can be irradiated independently. The lower alignment material layer is irradiated with light), so that the photo-alignment material in the alignment layer undergoes structural changes such as photoisomerization, photo-crosslinking, photo-degradation, etc., resulting in surface anisotropy, which in turn causes liquid crystal molecules to occur on the surface of the alignment layer. Orientation arrangement.

According to some specific embodiments of the present invention, the zonal alignment treatment includes: performing a first photo-alignment treatment on a part of the alignment material layer in the alignment region; The second photo-alignment treatment is performed on the alignment material layers in all other alignment regions (except for the other alignment regions); wherein, the alignment directions of the first photo-alignment treatment and the second photo-alignment treatment are different. Specifically, in this step, a patterned mask (such as a photoresist, a masking ink layer, etc.) can be formed on the upper substrate or the lower substrate first, and the alignment area that needs to be aligned is not covered by the mask, but The alignment area that does not need alignment treatment is covered by the mask, and then the liquid crystal cell is illuminated on the side of the mask away from the liquid crystal layer, so that the photo-alignment material in the upper and lower alignment material layers that have been illuminated is generated. Surface anisotropy, and then align the liquid crystal molecules. In this step, the above operation can be repeated for many times to align multiple different regions to obtain multiple orientation regions with different orientation directions.

According to other specific embodiments of the present invention, the material of the alignment layer is a rewritable photo-alignment material, and the sub-area alignment treatment may include: performing a third photo-alignment treatment on the entire alignment material layer; Part of the alignment material layer in the alignment region of the third photo-alignment treatment is subjected to a fourth photo-alignment treatment; wherein, the alignment directions of the third photo-alignment treatment and the fourth photo-alignment treatment are different. Therefore, a mask is not needed during the third photo-alignment treatment, which greatly simplifies the operation steps, reduces the difficulty of the process, and saves the cost.

According to further specific embodiments of the present invention, in order to realize a relatively complex liquid crystal lens structure, the alignment material layer may be subjected to dot matrix exposure to perform photo-alignment treatment. Specifically, the principle of the photo-alignment treatment of dot matrix exposure is the same as that described above, except that the light source used for exposure includes multiple independent illumination light sources, and each illumination light source can independently adjust the specific parameters of the illumination light (such as Polarization direction, power, etc.), thus, the liquid crystal lens can be divided into multiple orientation regions, and then different orientation regions are illuminated by multiple independent illumination light sources at the same time, so as to achieve the effect of different orientation directions in different orientation regions. Therefore, the operation is convenient, fast and simple, and it is especially suitable for preparing a liquid crystal lens with a large number of alignment regions and many alignment directions, so that a liquid crystal lens with a more complex structure and more comprehensive functions can be realized.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, before forming the alignment material layer, the method further includes forming an upper electrode layer on the one surface of the upper substrate; and forming a lower electrode layer on the one surface of the lower substrate . Specifically, the specific method for disposing the upper electrode layer on the upper substrate is not particularly limited, and can be any known method. In some specific embodiments, the upper electrode layer can be formed on the upper substrate by means of deposition, coating, etc. Those skilled in the art can understand that the specific method of forming the lower electrode layer on the lower substrate is the same as that of the upper substrate, and will not be described one by one here. Repeat.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned cell assembling process refers to the steps of pouring liquid crystal between the upper alignment layer and the lower alignment layer, and encapsulating the upper substrate and the lower substrate together. The specific method of pouring liquid crystal and packaging can be as follows conventional methods in the field. In some specific embodiments, an encapsulant (such as light-curing, heat-curing encapsulant, etc.) can be formed on the upper substrate or the lower substrate, liquid crystals can be dripped thereon, and then the upper and lower substrates are encapsulated together by the encapsulant. , forming a liquid crystal cell.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides an optical device. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the optical device includes the liquid crystal lens described above. The optical device includes all the features and advantages of the liquid crystal lens described above, and will not be repeated here.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the specific type of the optical device is not particularly limited, and can be any optical device that needs to use a lens, such as but not limited to optical systems, imaging devices, smart lighting devices, car lights, and the like. Of course, those skilled in the art can also understand that, in addition to the aforementioned liquid crystal lens, the optical device also includes necessary structures and components for conventional optical devices, which will not be repeated here.

In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "first" and "second" are only used for description purposes, and cannot be interpreted as indicating or implying relative importance or the number of indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may expressly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of the present invention, "plurality" means two or more, unless otherwise expressly and specifically defined.

In the description of this specification, description with reference to the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "example," "specific example," or "some examples", etc., mean specific features described in connection with the embodiment or example , structure, material or feature is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, schematic representations of the above terms are not necessarily directed to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, those skilled in the art may combine and combine the different embodiments or examples described in this specification, as well as the features of the different embodiments or examples, without conflicting each other.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it should be understood that the above-mentioned embodiments are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Embodiments are subject to variations, modifications, substitutions and variations.

Claims (15)

1. A liquid crystal lens comprising an alignment layer, and an upper substrate, a liquid crystal layer and a lower substrate which are laminated, wherein,

the alignment layer comprises an upper alignment layer and a lower alignment layer, the upper alignment layer is arranged between the upper substrate and the liquid crystal layer, the lower alignment layer is arranged between the liquid crystal layer and the lower substrate, the liquid crystal lens is divided into a plurality of alignment areas, the alignment directions of the alignment layers in the alignment areas are different, and the optical path difference between every two adjacent alignment areas is half wavelength.

2. The liquid crystal lens according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of alignment regions are a plurality of stripe-shaped alignment regions arranged along the first direction, and the optical path difference between two adjacent stripe-shaped alignment regions is half a wavelength, so that the plurality of stripe-shaped alignment regions form a cylindrical Fresnel lens.

3. The liquid crystal lens according to claim 2, wherein the alignment directions of the alignment layers in two adjacent stripe-shaped alignment regions are perpendicular.

4. The liquid crystal lens according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of alignment regions are concentric circular ring alignment regions, and the optical path difference between two adjacent concentric circular ring alignment regions is half a wavelength, so that the plurality of concentric circular ring alignment regions form a circular fresnel lens.

5. The liquid crystal lens according to claim 4, wherein the orientation direction of the orientation layer in one of the two adjacent concentric circular ring shaped orientation regions is a radial direction of the concentric circular ring shaped orientation region, and the orientation direction of the orientation layer in the other of the two adjacent concentric circular ring shaped orientation regions is a tangential direction of the concentric circular ring shaped orientation region.

6. The liquid crystal lens according to claim 1, wherein a thickness h of the liquid crystal layer satisfies Δ nh ═ λ/2, where Δ n ═ ne-no, ne is a refractive index of the liquid crystal molecules in a direction perpendicular to the long axis, no is a refractive index of the liquid crystal molecules in a direction parallel to the long axis, and λ is a predetermined wavelength.

7. The liquid crystal lens of claim 1, wherein the material of the upper and lower alignment layers is a photo-alignment material.

8. The liquid crystal lens of claim 7, wherein the photo-alignment material is a rewritable photo-alignment material.

9. The liquid crystal lens of claim 8, wherein the photo-alignment material comprises an azobenzene-based material.

10. The liquid crystal lens according to claim 1, further comprising an upper electrode disposed between the upper substrate and the upper alignment layer and a lower electrode disposed between the lower substrate and the lower alignment layer.

11. The liquid crystal lens of claim 10, further comprising a compensation film disposed between the upper substrate and the upper electrode for compensating optical dispersion.

12. A method of manufacturing the liquid crystal lens of any one of claims 1 to 11, comprising:

forming an alignment material layer on one surface of the upper substrate and one surface of the lower substrate, respectively;

carrying out partition orientation treatment on the orientation material layer to form an orientation layer;

and carrying out box alignment treatment on the upper substrate and the lower substrate provided with the orientation layers to obtain the liquid crystal lens.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the partition orientation processing is performed by any one of the following steps (1) to (3):

(1) the material of the orientation layer is a photo-orientation material, and the partitioned orientation treatment comprises the following steps:

performing a first photo-alignment treatment on the alignment material layer in a portion of the alignment region,

performing a second photo-alignment treatment on the alignment material layer in another part of the alignment region,

wherein the first photo-alignment treatment and the second photo-alignment treatment are different in alignment direction;

(2) the material of the orientation layer is erasable optical orientation material, and the partitioned orientation treatment comprises the following steps:

carrying out third photo-orientation treatment on the whole layer of the orientation material layer,

performing a fourth photo-alignment treatment on the alignment material layer in a part of the alignment region subjected to the third photo-alignment treatment,

wherein the orientation directions of the third photo-orientation treatment and the fourth photo-orientation treatment are different;

(3) the material of the orientation layer is a photo-orientation material, and the partitioned orientation treatment comprises the following steps:

and carrying out fifth photo-alignment treatment on the alignment material layer through dot matrix exposure.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising, prior to forming the alignment layer:

forming an upper electrode layer on the one surface of the upper substrate; and

and forming a lower electrode layer on the one surface of the lower substrate.

15. An optical device comprising the liquid crystal lens according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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