將高分子分散液晶光圈應用於數位相機之研析

Abstract

在本論文中，我們首先探索了結合高分子分散液晶(Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal)光圈與光學相機的可能性。透過材料、製程、光電系統、計算與實驗設計的開發與研究，我們所提出的光電系統在數位攝影與深度感測上，展現了良好並可靠的效能與成果。 高分子分散液晶由液晶與高分子材料所組成，是一種可以藉由驅動電壓調變的材料。比起傳統的液晶，高分子分散液晶的主要優點是具有較高的穿透率，非機械式與可調變。這些特性具有潛力符合自動化相機的系統需求，例如高訊雜比與可程式化功能。藉由利用高分子分散型液晶的這些優點及採用簡易實現的製程，我們設計了光電光圈(electro-optical iris)及更進階的版本:離軸雙光電光圈(off-axis dual electro-optical irises)。結合計算，搭配光電光圈的相機系統成功生成了高訊雜比的影像，有利於數位攝影的應用。而搭配離軸雙光電光圈的相機系統，在實驗結果與理論計算的佐證下，展現了可靠的深度感測能力。 在我們研究了高分子分散型液晶與光學相機的結合後，基於此組合的數位攝影與深度感測的應用已具有可行性與發展的潛力。而在我們研究過程中所探索的材料方法、製程技術與運算方法，也期望能夠對自動化技術、光電元件與行動攝影的發展有所貢獻。

In this dissertation, we first investigate the imaging solutions using polymer-dispersed-liquid-crystal (PDLC) irises and an optical camera. Through exploring the design and research over material, fabrication, photonics system, computation and experiments, the proposed electro-optical systems have the reliable performance for digital photography and depth sensing. The PDLC is a material consists of liquid crystal and polymer, which is non-mechanical, and switchable by adjusting the driving voltage. The higher transmittance is the main advantage compared to the traditional polarization-sensitive liquid crystal material, and has the potential to meet the requirements of automated camera system, such as high signal-to-noise ratio or programmable function. By leveraging these benefits of PDLC, we design an electro-optical iris and a more advanced version: off-axis dual electro-optical (DEO) irises through easy and compact fabrication process. With the computational methods, the camera system with the electro-optical iris can generate the low-noise image for photography applications. The depth system with DEO irises shows the robust depth sensing capability with theoretical-experimental consistency. As the first investigation to the combination of PDLC and camera, the digital photography and depth sensing become the possible solutions. We expect the further advanced exploration, and our idea and experience in material synthesis, fabrication process and computational methods also has potential impact to the future progress in automated camera, electro-optical device and mobile photography.