Nonmechanical zoom lens based on the Pancharatnam phase effect

Appl Opt. 2016 Feb 10;55(5):1145-50. doi: 10.1364/AO.55.001145.

Abstract

We present a nonmechanical zoom lens system based on the Pancharatnam phase effect, which is controlled by the state of circularly polarized light. The device is shown to allow for a compact design for a wide range of zoom ratios. A demonstration system is shown, which has a 4× zoom ratio between its two electrically switchable states. We show its observed image quality experimentally and compare it with calculated expectations.