Improving the performance of an electrowetting lenticular lens array by using a thin polycarbonate chamber

Abstract

In this paper, we used a thin polycarbonate (PC) chamber to improve the performance of an electrowetting lenticular lens array. The polycarbonate chamber changed the radius of curvature (ROC) of the oil acting as a lens, which increased the dioptric power of the liquid lens to 1666.7D. The increase in dioptric power required a reduction in the distance between the optical center of the lens and the display pixels under the chamber, which was accomplished by reducing the thickness of the chamber. The optimal thickness of the chamber was determined to be 0.5mm. Using this thin PC chamber, transmittance and viewing angle were measured and compared with an electrowetting lenticular lens with a conventional 1mm poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) chamber was done. Crosstalk which degrades clear 3D images, is an inevitable factor in lenticular lens type multi-view systems. With the 0.5mm PC chamber, the viewing zone was expanded and the ratio of the crosstalk area was reduced, which resulted in a clear 3D image. The new method of depositing the electrode layer also ensured the uniform operation of the liquid lens array.

Tunable Liquid Lenses: Emerging Technologies and Future Perspectives

“…In addition to the spherical lens, liquid lenticular lens arrays based on electrowetting have been proposed for 3D display. A kind of electrowetting liquid lenticular lens array was produced by thin polycarbonate or polymethylmethacrylate chamber, [91][92][93] as shown in Figure 12d. Metal, dielectric layer, and hydrophobic layer were deposited in the chamber.…”

Novel biconvex structure electrowetting liquid lenticular lens for 2D/3D convertible display

“…At this time, since the refractive index of ETPTA ( n E = 1.47) and the refractive index of PMMA ( n P = 1.48) do not show a large difference, it is assumed that light refraction rarely occurs at the boundary between the two materials. After dosing and curing of ETPTA, 60 nm Au (gold) electrodes were deposited by thermal evaporation on both sides 10 , as shown in Fig. 3c .…”

“…To develop an autostereoscopic display 1 – 4 capable of 2D/3D conversion, research on the fabrication of a tunable lenticular lens using a liquid crystal 5 , 6 , a polymer membrane 7 , 8 , and a liquid lens 9 , 10 has been carried out in recent years. Among these approaches, a liquid lenticular lens using an electrowetting phenomenon 11 , 12 offers high optical transmittance and fast driving speed compared to the other methods.…”

“…According to research on the planoconvex structure electrowetting lenticular lens (P-EWLL) first reported in the literature, the dioptric power of the lenticular lens was only 145 D, and as such multi-view images are not smoothly separated from each point of view, and the ratio of crosstalk was also high 9 . In order to improve the significantly low dioptric power of the P-EWLL, research was conducted to change the material of the polymer chamber from poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) to poly carbonate (PC), and to separate the electrode at the bottom of the chamber 10 . In addition, an opened structure chamber in which nonconductive liquid can be uniformly dosed into all lens chambers has been newly developed 14 .…”

3-D image Crosstalk Reduction by Controlling the Width of the Electrode in a Liquid Lenticular Lens

“…Among them, a liquid lenticular lens [15], [16] is garnering attention as the next generation 2D/3D switchable display due to advantages such as superior optical properties, a simple fabrication process, a fast response time, a low power consumption, and no mechanical movement parts. The liquid lenticular lens consists of two immiscible liquids, one is conductive liquid and the other one is nonconductive liquid.…”