Liu Chao, Wang Di, Yao Li-Xiao, Li Lei, Wang Qiong-Hua
Appl Opt. 2015 Apr 1;54(10):2672-6. doi: 10.1364/AO.54.002672.
In this paper we demonstrate a liquid optical switch based on total internal reflection. Two indium tin oxide electrodes are fabricated on the bottom substrate. A conductive liquid (Liquid 1) is placed on one side of the chamber and surrounded by a density-matched silicone oil (Liquid 2). In initial state, when the light beam illuminates the interface of the two liquids, it just meets the conditions of total internal reflection. The light is totally reflected by Liquid 2, and the device shows light-off state. When we apply a voltage to the other side of the indium tin oxide electrode, Liquid 1 stretched towards this side of the substrate and the curvature of the liquid-liquid interface changes. The light beam is refracted by Liquid 1 and the device shows light-on state. So the device can achieve the functions of an optical switch. Because the light beam can be totally reflected by the liquid, the device can attain 100% light intensity attenuation. Our experiments show that the response time from light-on (off) to light-off (on) are 130 and 132 ms, respectively. The proposed optical switch has potential applications in variable optical attenuators, information displays, and light shutters.
在本文中，我们展示了一种基于全内反射的液体光开关。在底部基板上制作了两个氧化铟锡电极。在腔室的一侧放置一种导电液体（液体1），并被密度匹配的硅油（液体2）包围。在初始状态下，当光束照射两种液体的界面时，恰好满足全内反射条件。光被液体2全反射，此时器件呈现关闭状态。当我们向氧化铟锡电极的另一侧施加电压时，液体1向基板的这一侧伸展，液 - 液界面的曲率发生变化。光束被液体1折射，器件呈现开启状态。因此，该器件能够实现光开关的功能。由于光束可以被液体全反射，该器件可实现100%的光强衰减。我们的实验表明，从开启（关闭）到关闭（开启）的响应时间分别为130毫秒和132毫秒。所提出的光开关在可变光衰减器、信息显示和光闸方面具有潜在应用。
