This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 201810097403.0, filed on Jan. 31, 2018 and titled “LIQUID CRYSTAL LENS AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF, AND DISPLAY DEVICE”, the disclosure of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a liquid crystal lens, a manufacturing method thereof, and a display device.
As an important component of a display device, a liquid crystal lens has the advantages of small size, light weight, low power consumption and the like. Through the development in recent years, the liquid crystal lens has significant potential application value in the display field.
The disclosure provides a liquid crystal lens, a manufacturing method thereof, and a display device.
In an aspect, there is provided a liquid crystal lens, comprising: a first substrate and a second substrate, wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are opposite, a plurality of lens units are provided between the first substrate and the second substrate, the plurality of lens units are arranged in a matrix, and each of the plurality of lens units presenting a semispherical structure under the effect of an externally applied voltage and is used to control an angle of light perpendicular to the first substrate to enable the light perpendicular to the first substrate deflected towards a plurality of directions parallel to the first substrate.
Optionally, each of the plurality of lens units comprises a first electrode, a second electrode and a liquid crystal layer between the first electrode and the second electrode, the first electrode is disposed on the first substrate, and the second electrode is disposed on the second substrate; a protection of a center of the first electrode on the second substrate overlaps with a projection of a center of the second electrode on the second substrate, and a contact area between the first electrode and the first substrate is less than a contact area between the second electrode and the second substrate.
Optionally, the first electrode is a spot electrode.
Optionally, the second electrode is a circular electrode.
Optionally, the second electrode is a square electrode.
Optionally, the first electrode and the second electrode both have a thickness of 0.07 μm.
Optionally, the first electrode is made of indium tin oxide (ITO).
Optionally, the second electrode is made of ITO.
In another aspect, there is provided a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal lens, comprising:
forming a first thin film on a first substrate by sputtering;
performing a patterning process on the first substrate where the first thin film is formed to form a first electrode layer, the first electrode layer comprising a plurality of first electrodes, the plurality of first electrodes being arranged in a matrix;
forming a second thin film on a second substrate by sputtering;
performing a patterning process on the second substrate where the second thin film is formed to form a second electrode layer, the second electrode layer comprising a plurality of second electrodes, and the plurality of second electrodes having one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of first electrodes, for each pair of the first electrode and the second electrode, a projection of a center of the first electrode on the second substrate overlapping with a projection of a center of the second electrode on the second substrate, and a contact area between the first electrode and the first substrate being less than a contact area between the second electrode and the second substrate;
cell-aligning the first substrate and the second substrate; and
dropping liquid crystal between each pair of the first electrode and the second electrode to form a lens unit which has a semispherical structure under the effect of an externally applied voltage, and is used to control an angle of light perpendicular to the first substrate to enable the light perpendicular to the first substrate deflected towards a plurality of directions parallel to the first substrate.
In yet another aspect, there is provided a display device, comprising a liquid crystal lens, wherein the liquid crystal lens comprises: a first substrate and a second substrate, the first substrate and the second substrate are opposite; a plurality of lens units are provided between the first substrate and the second substrate, the plurality of lens units are arranged in a matrix, and each of the plurality of lens units has a semispherical structure under the effect of an externally applied voltage and is used to control an angle of light perpendicular to the first substrate to enable the light perpendicular to the first substrate deflected towards a plurality of directions parallel to the first substrate.
Optionally, each of the plurality of lens units comprises a first electrode, a second electrode and a liquid crystal layer between the first electrode and the second electrode, the first electrode is disposed on the first substrate, and the second electrode is disposed on the second substrate; a protection of a center of the first electrode on the second substrate overlaps with a projection of a center of the second electrode on the second substrate, and a contact area between the first electrode and the first substrate is less than a contact area between the second electrode and the second substrate.
Optionally, the first electrode is a spot electrode.
Optionally, the second electrode is a circular electrode.
Optionally, the second electrode is a square electrode.
Optionally, the first electrode and the second electrode both have a thickness of 0.07 μm.
Optionally, the first electrode is made of indium tin oxide (ITO).
Optionally, the second electrode is made of ITO
The present disclosure will be described in further detail with reference to the drawings, to clearly present the principles and advantages of the present disclosure.
There are a plurality of lens units 130 between the first substrate 110 and the second substrate 120. The plurality of lens units 130 are arranged in a matrix.
In the liquid crystal lens according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, a plurality of lens units arranged in a matrix are provided between the first substrate and the second substrate, and each of the plurality of lens units presents a semispherical structure under the effect of the externally applied voltage. As illustrated in
Exemplarily, the semispherical structure presented by the lens unit under the effect of the externally applied voltage according to the embodiments of the present disclosure may be as illustrated in
Exemplarily, when the semispherical structure presented by the lens unit under the effect of the externally applied voltage is a regular semispherical structure, the first electrode may be a spot electrode, and the second electrode may be a circular electrode.
Exemplarily, when the semispherical structure presented by the lens unit under the effect of the externally applied voltage is an irregular semispherical structure, the first electrode may be a spot electrode, and the second electrode may be a square electrode.
Exemplarily, the first electrode and the second electrode may be made of indium tin oxide (ITO). The first electrode and the second electrode may both have a thickness of 0.07 μm.
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the driving voltage for the first electrode and the second electrode may be 10 V.
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the liquid crystal in the liquid crystal layer may be negative liquid crystal, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the liquid crystal lens is marked as A1, and the liquid crystal lens illustrated in
Specifically,
As seen from
As seen from
In addition, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, after the light perpendicular to the first substrate passes through the liquid crystal lens A1 and the liquid crystal lens A2, the light intensity of the light in the z-axis direction (refer to
As seen from
In addition, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the light utilization ratio of the liquid crystal lens A1 in the embodiments of the present disclosure and the light utilization ratio of the liquid crystal lens A2 known to the inventors are tested by using a light source with a light intensity of 10 nit. The test result is as follows: the light intensity of the light received by the liquid crystal lens A1 in the embodiments of the present disclosure is 8.6 nit, and the intensity of the light received by the liquid crystal lens A2 is 7.2 nit. Thus, compared with the liquid crystal lens A2 known to the inventors, the liquid crystal lens A1 according to the embodiments of the present disclosure has a higher light utilization ratio.
In summary, in the liquid crystal lens according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, a plurality of lens units arranged in a matrix are provided between the first substrate and the second substrate. Each of the plurality of lens unit presents a semispherical structure under the effect of an externally applied voltage, and is configured to control an angle of light perpendicular to the first substrate such that the light perpendicular to the first substrate is deflected towards a plurality of directions parallel to the first substrate. The liquid crystal lens can not only deflect the light perpendicular to the first substrate towards the x-axis direction, but also deflect the light perpendicular to the first substrate towards other directions parallel to the first substrate, such as the z-axis direction. Therefore, the light utilization ratio is improved, and the display effect of the display device is enhanced.
In step 101, a first thin film is formed on a first substrate by sputtering.
Exemplarily, in step 101, the first thin film may also be formed on the first substrate by deposition, coating or the like.
In step 102, a patterning process is performed on the first substrate where the first thin film is formed, to form a first electrode layer.
In step 103, a second thin film is formed on a second substrate by sputtering.
In step 104, a patterning process is performed on the second substrate where the second thin film is formed, to form a second electrode layer.
In step 105, the first substrate and the second substrate are cell-aligned.
In step 106, liquid crystal is dropped between each pair of the first electrode and the second electrode.
The lens unit is formed by dropping the liquid crystal between each pair of the first electrode and the second electrode. The lens unit presents a semispherical structure under the effect of an externally applied voltage, and is configured to control the angle of light perpendicular to the first substrate such that the light perpendicular to the first substrate is deflected towards a plurality of directions parallel to the first substrate. Exemplarily, the liquid crystal may be positive liquid crystal, and may also be negative liquid crystal, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.
The sequence of steps in the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal lens according to the embodiments of the present disclosure may be adjusted appropriately, and the steps may also be reduced or added based on circumstances. Within the technical scope of the present disclosure, any variations of the method that may be readily derived by a person skilled in the art shall fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure, which is thus not described herein any further.
In summary, according to the manufacturing method for a liquid crystal lens in the embodiments of the present disclosure, a plurality of lens units arranged in a matrix are provided between the first substrate and the second substrate. Each of the plurality of lens unit presents a semispherical structure under the effect of an externally applied voltage, and is configured to control an angle of light perpendicular to the first substrate such that the light perpendicular to the first substrate is deflected towards a plurality of directions parallel to the first substrate. Thus, the liquid crystal lens manufactured with this method can not only deflect the light perpendicular to the first substrate in the x-axis direction, but also deflect the light perpendicular to the first substrate towards other directions parallel to the first substrate, such as the z-axis direction. Therefore, the light utilization ratio is raised, and the display effect of the display device is enhanced.
An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a display device. The display device includes a liquid crystal lens, which may be the liquid crystal lens 100 illustrated in
Herein, the display device may be any product or part with a display function, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a TV, a display, a laptop computer, a digital photo frame, a navigator or the like.
In summary, a display device is provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and the display device includes a liquid crystal lens. A plurality of lens units arranged in a matrix are provided between the first substrate and the second substrate. Each of the plurality of lens unit presents a semispherical structure under the effect of an externally applied voltage, and is configured to control an angle of light perpendicular to the first substrate to enable the light perpendicular to the first substrate deflected towards a plurality of directions parallel to the first substrate. Thus, the liquid crystal lens can not only deflect the light perpendicular to the first substrate in the x-axis direction, but also deflect the light perpendicular to the first substrate towards other directions parallel to the first substrate, such as the z-axis direction. Therefore, the light utilization ratio is raised, and the display effect of the display device is enhanced.
Other embodiments of the present disclosure may be available to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the present disclosure. The present disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present disclosure following general principles of the present disclosure and include the common general knowledge or conventional technical means in the art without departing from the present disclosure. The specification and examples may be shown as illustrative only, and the true scope and spirit of the present disclosure are indicated by the claims.
It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise constructions described above and shown in the drawings, and various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure can be limited only by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201810097403.0 | Jan 2018 | CN | national |