Graphene-based liquid crystal microlens arrays

In this paper, we design and fabricate a kind of liquid crystal microlens arrays (LCMAs) with patterned electrodes made of monolayer graphene, which is grown on copper sheet by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Graphene is the first two-dimensional atomic crystal. It uniquely combines extreme mechanical strength, high optically transmittance from visible light to infrared spectrum, and excellent electrical conductivity. These properties make it highly attractive for various applications in photonic devices that require conductive but transparent thin films. The graphene-based LCMAs have shown excellent optical performances in the tests. By adjusting the voltage signal loaded over the graphene-based LCMAs, the point spread functions (PSF) and focusing images of incident laser beams with different wavelengths, could be obtained. At the same time, we also get the focusing images of the common ITO-based LCMAs under the same experimental conditions to discuss the advantages and disadvantages between them. Further, the graphene-based LCMAs are also used in visible imaging. During the imaging tests, the graphene electrodes in the LCMAs work well.