US 11,880,113 B2
Varifocal system using hybrid tunable liquid crystal lenses
Lu Lu, Kirkland, WA (US); Fenglin Peng, Redmond, WA (US); and Douglas Robert Lanman, Bellevue, WA (US)
Assigned to META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, Menlo Park, CA (US)
Filed by Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC, Menlo Park, CA (US)
Filed on May 3, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/736,085.
Application 17/736,085 is a continuation of application No. 16/271,344, filed on Feb. 8, 2019, granted, now 11,353,767.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/712,001, filed on Jul. 30, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2022/0260887 A1, Aug. 18, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G02F 1/29 (2006.01); G02B 30/36 (2020.01)
CPC G02F 1/29 (2013.01) [G02B 30/36 (2020.01); G02F 1/294 (2021.01)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A device, comprising:
a first-type liquid crystal (LC) lens configured to provide a first optical power that is variable in a first step resolution;
a second-type LC lens coupled with the first-type LC lens, and configured to provide a second optical power that is variable in a second step resolution; and
a linear-to-circular polarization converter disposed between the first-type LC lens and the second-type LC lens,
wherein the linear-to-circular polarization converter is configured to convert a linearly polarized light output from the first-type LC lens into a circularly polarized light propagating toward the second-type LC lens,
wherein the first step resolution is smaller than the second step resolution, and
wherein a total optical power of the device is a sum of the first optical power and the second optical power, and is variable in the first step resolution.