Polarization-dependent optical tuning of focal intensity of liquid crystal polymer microlens array

This work demonstrates the feasibility of a microlens array (MLA) with a focal intensity that can be optically tuned by controlling the polarization of incident light. The proposed MLA has a focusing unit based on birefringent liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) and a tuning unit with a photo-alignment layer for controlling the polarization state of incident laser light. The optically variable refractive indices of LCP allow a positive or negative MLA to be realized by controlling the polarization of the incident light.