Shape Measurements by Using a Liquid Crystal Lens

Abstract

We propose a microscope system for continuously taking the magnification images of a three-dimensional object by using a composite lens of a liquid crystal (LC) lens in addition to a relay lens and objective lens. The variable focal length of the composite lens can easily be controlled at the range of 3 mm by applying the voltages to both a circularly hole-patterned electrode and external flat electrode of the LC lens without any mechanical movements. The depth properties of the object can be estimated by using a Laplacian-Gaussian filter process of the all focused images.

Keywords:

• Focal length
• interference fringe
• liquid crystal lens
• microscope
• three-dimensional measurement

Acknowledgment

This work was partially supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research Young Scientists (B) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, 2009. The authors would like to acknowledge the cooperation of Prof. Susumu Sato, Dr. Satoshi Yanase and Dr. Mao Ye (Akita Research Institute of Advanced Technology).