National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
Da-Heng Collaborative Innovation Center for Science of Quantum Manipulation and Control, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin, 150080, China.
Adv Mater. 2018 Mar;30(10). doi: 10.1002/adma.201705865. Epub 2018 Jan 15.
Cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) chiral superstructures exhibit unique features; that is, polychromatic and spin-determined phase modulation. Here, a concept for digitalized chiral superstructures is proposed, which further enables the arbitrary manipulation of reflective geometric phase and may significantly upgrade existing optical apparatus. By encoding a specifically designed binary pattern, an innovative CLC optical vortex (OV) processor is demonstrated. Up to 25 different OVs are extracted with equal efficiency over a wavelength range of 116 nm. The multiplexed OVs can be detected simultaneously without mode crosstalk or distortion, permitting a polychromatic, large-capacity, and in situ method for parallel OV processing. Such complex but easily fabricated self-assembled chiral superstructures exhibit versatile functionalities, and provide a satisfactory platform for OV manipulation and other cutting-edge territories. This work is a vital step towards extending the fundamental understanding and fantastic applications of ordered soft matter.
胆甾相液晶（CLC）手性超结构表现出独特的特征，即多色和自旋确定的相位调制。在这里，提出了数字化手性超结构的概念，它进一步实现了对反射几何相位的任意操控，并可能显著升级现有的光学仪器。通过对特定设计的二进制模式进行编码，展示了一种创新的 CLC 光学涡旋（OV）处理器。在 116nm 的波长范围内，以相同的效率提取了多达 25 个不同的 OV。多路复用的 OV 可以同时检测而没有模式串扰或失真，从而实现了多色、大容量和原位的并行 OV 处理方法。这种复杂但易于制造的自组装手性超结构具有多种功能，为 OV 操控和其他前沿领域提供了一个令人满意的平台。这项工作是朝着扩展有序软物质的基础理解和奇妙应用迈出的重要一步。
