title: High-speed driving of liquid crystal lens with weakly conductive thin films and voltage booster.
abstract: Liquid crystal (LC) lenses with weakly conductive thin films are known to have driving voltages of several volts, which are much smaller than those of devices without them; however, their response characteristics have not been investigated in much detail. Here, we show that low-voltage LC lenses, with the help of an overdrive pulse, can show response times of several 10 ms, which are comparable with voice coil motors currently used for focus-tuning of mobile cameras. We provide data on the lens power as well as real images captured using a lens module and a camera; we also present a compact circuit design that can boost a 3.5  V(rms) square pulse from a mobile battery to 15  V(rms). The results of this study should accelerate the use of LC lenses in mobile applications.
authors.forename: Giichi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shibuya
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ozaki