title: Nonmechanical zoom lens based on the Pancharatnam phase effect.
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.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Hsien-Hui
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Achintya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhowmik
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McGinty
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bos