Gradient-index liquid crystal lenses with adjustable flyback regions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12416842-B2
Application number	US-202318485498-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 12, 2023
Priority date	Oct 12, 2022
Publication date	Sep 16, 2025
Grant date	Sep 16, 2025

Abstract

The disclosed system may include at least one gradient-index liquid crystal lens. The system may include a selection module that selects a viewing angle. The system may also include an adjustment module that dynamically adjusts a phase reset property of the gradient-index liquid crystal lens in response to the selected viewing angle. Various other devices, systems, and methods are also disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
at least one gradient-index liquid crystal lens;
an eye-tracking device that detects a direction of a user's gaze;
a selection module that:
detects at least one image region of interest on the gradient-index liquid crystal lens based at least in part on the direction of the user's gaze; and
selects a viewing angle based at least in part on the image region of interest; and

an adjustment module that dynamically adjusts a phase reset property of the gradient-index liquid crystal lens based at least in part on the viewing angle.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gradient-index liquid crystal lens comprises a voltage-tunable layer adjacent to a liquid crystal layer.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the adjustment module dynamically adjusts the phase reset property of the liquid crystal layer by adjusting the voltage-tunable layer.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the voltage-tunable layer comprises a set of electrodes that control a refractive index of the liquid crystal layer.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a mask configured to block light at one or more phase reset boundaries.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a head-mounted display, wherein the at least one gradient-index liquid crystal lens is configured to project one or more images from the head-mounted display.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the phase reset property of the gradient-index liquid crystal lens comprises reducing a slope of one or more Fresnel resets at the image region of interest on the gradient-index liquid crystal lens.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein adjusting the phase reset property of the gradient-index liquid crystal lens comprises reducing a difference between voltages applied to adjacent Fresnel resets at the image region of interest.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the adjust module maintains a consistent optical power of the gradient-index liquid crystal lens before and after dynamically adjusting the phase reset property.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the phase reset property of the gradient-index liquid crystal lens comprises reducing a density of Fresnel resets in the image region of interest.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the phase reset property of the gradient-index liquid crystal lens comprises reducing light scattering at the image region of interest.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the phase reset property of the gradient-index liquid crystal lens comprises shifting Fresnel resets at the image region of interest to account for incoming light.

13. A device comprising:
at least one gradient-index liquid crystal lens;
an eye-tracking device that detects a direction of a user's gaze;
a selection module that:
detects at least one image region of interest on the gradient-index liquid crystal lens based at least in part on the direction of the user's gaze; and
selects a viewing angle based at least in part on the image region of interest; and

an adjustment module that dynamically adjusts a phase reset property of the gradient-index liquid crystal lens based at least in part on the viewing angle.

14. The device of claim 13 , wherein the gradient-index liquid crystal lens comprises a voltage-tunable layer adjacent to a liquid crystal layer.

15. The device of claim 14 , wherein the adjustment module dynamically adjusts the phase reset property of the liquid crystal layer by adjusting the voltage-tunable layer.

16. The device of claim 15 , wherein the voltage-tunable layer comprises a set of electrodes that control a refractive index of the liquid crystal layer.

17. The device of claim 16 , wherein the set of electrodes comprises a set of ring electrodes.

18. The device of claim 17 , wherein the adjustment module is configured to apply different voltages to different electrodes within the set of electrodes.

19. The device of claim 13 , wherein the gradient-index liquid crystal lens comprises a variable resistance film that controls a refractive index of a liquid crystal layer.

20. An artificial-reality headset comprising:
a head-mounted display;
at least one gradient-index liquid crystal lens that is configured to project one or more images from the head-mounted display;
an eye-tracking device that detects a direction of a user's gaze;
a selection module that:
detects at least one image region of interest on the gradient-index liquid crystal lens based at least in part on the direction of the user's gaze; and
selects a viewing angle based at least in part on the image region of interest; and

an adjustment module that dynamically adjusts a phase reset property of the gradient-index liquid crystal lens based at least in part on the viewing angle.

Assignees

• Meta Platforms Tech Llc

Inventors

• Jamali Afsoon
• Jang Changwon
• Shi Zhimin
• Nakahara Sho
• Stratton Eric

Classifications

• G02F2201/122

  having a particular pattern · CPC title

• G02F1/294

  Variable focal length devices · CPC title

• G02F1/29 Primary

  for the control of the position or the direction of light beams, i.e. deflection · CPC title