Microfluidically tunable lenticular lens

This paper describes a tunable lenticular lens to switch high-resolution two-dimensional (2D) / three-dimensional (3D) images in naked-eye stereoscopic displays. This lens is simply composed of transparent poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microchannels and pumps to realizes two states: (A) flat surface for light transmissions without deflection; (B) cylindrically deformed surface for light deflection. This lens has three advantages: (i) switchable optical characteristics without patterned electrode, (ii) adjustable focal length by the pressure-driven deformation, (iii) simple fabrication and low-cost experimental setup. By using this device put on a Smart Phone display, we successfully observed 3D images and two different images depending on view angle. Moreover, we obtained clear 2D images without decrease in the horizontal resolution. We believe that this device can be applied to a portable and high luminance naked-eye stereoscopic display by the combination with various types of commercially available portable displays.