Design, Fabrication, and Applications of Liquid Crystal Microlenses

Abstract Microlenses and microlens arrays are one of the indispensable components in modern optical systems ranging from imaging and beam shaping to polarization control and switchable 2D/3D displays. Among them, the liquid crystal microlenses (LCMs) with size below 1 mm have attracted more and more attention due to their stimuli‐responsiveness and tunability in focal length and polarization. Compared with microlenses based on inorganic binary optics, diffractive optical elements, or metasurface, LCMs are more cost‐effective and can be easily tuned. In this paper, an in‐depth review of the design principles, fabrication techniques, emerging applications, and recent advances of LCMs and arrays is presented, aiming to clarify the characteristics, limitations, and challenges in LCMs design and fabrication. This review may provide directions for solving those challenges, and expand the applications of LCMs.