Chinese Journal of Liquid Crystals and Displays, Volume. 40, Issue 8, 1122(2025)

Liquid crystal microscopic objective with inclined electrodes based on the generalized Snell’s law

Kai WANG, Baolong ZHANG*, Dan LI, Yufeng MA, and Zhao LI
Author Affiliations
  • School of Electronics and Automation, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
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    Optical microscope objectives are widely utilized in medical imaging and biological research. However, conventional objectives based on Snell’s law face the challenges in miniaturization due to their multi-lens configurations. Metalens technology, grounded in the generalized Snell’s law, offers a promising solution. This study derives the ideal refractive index distribution for metalenses by integrating the generalized Snell’s law with the equal optical path principle. Liquid crystal materials, leveraging their electrically controlled birefringence, inherently satisfy this distribution. A refractive index distribution model for liquid crystal lenses is established, accompanied by a novel tilted ITO driving electrode structure. Techwiz LCD 2D simulations demonstrate that under a 7 V applied voltage and 20° ITO tilt angle, the refractive index profile optimally aligns with the ideal parabolic curve. Zemax-based optical performance analysis reveals that the liquid crystal microscope objective achieves a 50× magnification, 1.584 mm focal length, 0.124 numerical aperture, and 2.37 μm resolution in the visible spectrum. Spot diagram analysis confirms RMS radii smaller than the Airy disk radius across scenarios, indicating superior energy concentration. MTF curves exhibit values exceeding 0.3 from low to high frequencies, meeting standard detector imaging requirements.

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    Kai WANG, Baolong ZHANG, Dan LI, Yufeng MA, Zhao LI. Liquid crystal microscopic objective with inclined electrodes based on the generalized Snell’s law[J]. Chinese Journal of Liquid Crystals and Displays, 2025, 40(8): 1122

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    Paper Information

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    Received: Mar. 27, 2025

    Accepted: --

    Published Online: Sep. 25, 2025

    The Author Email: Baolong ZHANG (eezbl@tust.edu.cn)

    DOI:10.37188/CJLCD.2025-0069

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