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Change of Focus for Liquid Crystals

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the scientists-all-charged-up-about-new-discovery dept.

Dylan Knight Rogers writes to tell us PhysicsWeb is reporting that US physicists have discovered a new liquid-crystal lens design that can alter the focus by varying the voltage applied. From the article: "The new lens, which has been built by Shin-Tson Wu and colleagues at the University of Central Florida, allows the focus to be changed in a new way. The device consists of a mixture of liquid-crystal molecules and smaller N-vinylpyrrollidone monomers placed between two glass substrates, each of which is coated with a thin transparent layer of conducting indium tin oxide. They then placed a concave glass lens with a flat base on top of one of the substrates."

6 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. Battery life... by HateBreeder · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Picture it: A camera that could Auto-focus without any moving, mechanical parts.... faster and more energy efficient!

    I wonder what's the percentage of power drained by a typical digital camera just for auto focusing under normal usage.

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    Sigs are for the weak.
    1. Re:Battery life... by Dis*abstraction · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Using two lenses with adaptable focus, you'd be able to zoom without needing to change the barrel length, if my understanding is correct. This would simplify the mechanical requirements for variable focus and optical zoom to the point where it would make sense to include both features in consumer electronics.

      Also, there's nothing stopping a professional photographer or cinematographer from putting film behind that felxible lens. Being able to ditch that truck full of heavy glass optics would be a great boon for professionals.

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    2. Re:Battery life... by sco08y · · Score: 5, Informative

      A camera that could Auto-focus without any moving, mechanical parts

      I'm not sure if that would work.

      From TFA:

      The only snag with the new device is its long focusing time of about three minutes. This is because the lens is relatively large (9 mm), which means that molecular diffusion across it is slow. However, this should not be problem in micro-sized lenses in which the estimated response time is around 1 second at room temperature.

      I assume they're talking about lens diameter. It might work for smaller cellphone type cameras, though.

  2. Great scott! by flobberchops · · Score: 5, Funny

    Great scott! *LCD monacle pops out*

  3. Re:Isn't that an old story? by Volanin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Are you talking about this or this? ;-)

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  4. Novel invention, novel uses by xkr · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I doubt this system will replace mechanically focusing a camera lens.

    However, this might be used as a way to optimize solar panels as the sun moves across the sky, or to change the field pattern for headlights or taillights to better match current driving conditions.

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    I will create a sig when innovation restarts in the U.S.