Electrophysical and optical properties of spherical and cylindrical liquid-crystal optically addressed lenses

New experimental results on direct measurements of the phase response of spherical liquid-crystal (LC) optically addressed lenses (OALs) are presented. A simple and easy-to-use formula for the focal length of an adaptive modal LC lens is obtained for the first time. The complex conductance is measured with an accuracy that is sufficient to find the aperture region contribution and the calculated conductance is in good qualitative agreement with the experiment. The possibility of using OALs for self-correction of defocusing and as adaptive laser-beam deflectors is proposed and demonstrated experimentally.