Varied-line-spacing switchable holographic grating using polymer-dispersed liquid crystal.

A varied-line-spacing switchable holographic grating is demonstrated through a changeable interference pattern recorded in polymer-dispersed liquid crystal. The pattern is generated by the interference between one plane wave and another cylindrical wave. The line spacing and the period of grating can be controlled by varying the distance between the cylindrical lens and the grating sample and by changing the exposure angle between the two beams. Experimental period measurements and calculations show good agreement with the theoretical results. High diffraction efficiency of more than 80% for the middle period of the grating has been achieved under appropriate exposure time of 120 s and intensity of 19.1  mW/cm. In addition, the diffraction can be switched on and off by virtue of the external driving voltage of approximately 120 V. The grating also possesses a fast response with a rise time of 300 μs and a fall time of 750 μs. This grating, which can change the period in the grating structure to allow switchable diffraction of transmitted light, shows great potential application for diffractive optics.