We employed amplitude and frequency modulated voltage in fast switching optical retarder with a high pretilt angle dual-frequency nematic cell. We obtained the response times 150 – 500 μs for an optical retardation shift on 0.3 – 2.2 μm in optical retarder with 12 μm thick nematic cell. The results could be used in beam steering, adaptive optics and display devices.

Coated retarders based on liquid crystal materials are typically aligned by brushing or photo-alignment. Recently, we have managed to combine the aligning and retarder function into a single material. Alignment of the new volume photo-alignable retarder (VPR-) material is induced in the bulk upon exposure to linearly polarized light. The new alignment mechanism opens up a new dimension for the ...

The optical resting point of a polarimetric sensor is normally reached by using a fixed retarder plate. It is shown that this retarder plate can be omitted by using 90 degrees prisms of selected glass materials. The sensitivity of the prism retarder toward changes in wavelength and temperature is mathematically analyzed, and it is shown how the stability of the retarder system is influenced by ...

We propose a reflective three-dimensional (3D) display using a cholesteric liquid crystal (ChLC) with an inner patterned retarder producing half-wave retardation. The inner patterned retarder, fabricated by selective ultra-violet exposure to the aligned reactive mesogen, divides the circularly polarized light reflected from the ChLC layer into two orthogonal circular polarizations. These reflec...

We proposed a fabrication method of the patterned retarder based on the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) instability. The anisotropic flow of the liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) film enables a net force induced by utilizing the distorted electric field. The patterned retarder based on the EHD instability has simple process with an easy control of the phase retardation and no residual LCP. Therefore, ...

We present a new type of compressive spectroscopy technique employing a liquid crystal (LC) phase retarder. A tunable LC cell is used in a manner compliant with the compressive sensing (CS) framework to significantly reduce the spectral scanning effort. The presented optical spectrometer consists of a single LC phase retarder combined with a single photo detector, where the LC phase retarder is...

The role of the liquid-crystal layer in the phase-shifting shearing interferometer that was proposed by Griffin [Opt. Lett. 26, 140 (2001)] is analyzed. An extra voltage-dependent phase difference is produced when the phase retarder is oriented at an angle from the optical axis of the laser beam such that the interferogram will not repeat itself after a 2pi phase change of the liquid-crystal re...

An improved common-path optical heterodyne interferometry for measuring small optical rotation angle of chiral liquid is presented. The optical rotation angle can be determined by the phase difference between the test and reference signals. By means of inserting a phase retarder behind the test sample, the measuring resolution of optical rotation angle is greatly enhanced. The theoretical predi...

A tunable polarimeter using multilayer interference coatings as both reflection polarizer and transmission phase retarder is described. The portable device bolts onto existing chambers and its rotation axis is precisely aligned to the beam. The upstream transmission phase retarder is tunable by varying its incidence angle, and the downstream polarizer is tunable by translating a laterally grade...

Dynamic response of a dual-frequency liquid crystal (DFLC) based near infrared phase modulator is investigated through numerical simulations and experiments. The relationships between the optical response times and various voltage driving conditions are studied. An optical phase retarder operating at 1.55 lm wavelength is demonstrated by using our homemade high figure-of-merit DFLC mixture. To ...