Algorri J F, Morawiak P, Zografopoulos D C, Bennis N, Spadlo A, Rodríguez-Cobo L, Jaroszewicz L R, Sánchez-Pena J M, López-Higuera J M
Photonics Engineering Group, University of Cantabria, 39005, Santander, Spain.
New Technologies and Chemistry Faculty, Military University of Technology, Warsaw, 00-908, Poland.
Sci Rep. 2020 Aug 14;10(1):13806. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-70783-8.
There is an increasing need to control light phase with tailored precision via simple means in both fundamental science and industry. One of the best candidates to achieve this goal are electro-optical materials. In this work, a novel technique to modulate the spatial phase profile of a propagating light beam by means of liquid crystals (LC), electro-optically addressed by indium-tin oxide (ITO) grating microstructures, is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A planar LC cell is assembled between two perpendicularly placed ITO gratings based on microstructured electrodes. By properly selecting only four voltage sources, we modulate the LC-induced phase profile such that non-diffractive Bessel beams, laser stretching, beam steering, and 2D tunable diffraction gratings are generated. In such a way, the proposed LC-tunable component performs as an all-in-one device with unprecedented characteristics and multiple functionalities. The operation voltages are very low and the aperture is large. Moreover, the device operates with a very simple voltage control scheme and it is lightweight and compact. Apart from the demonstrated functionalities, the proposed technique could open further venues of research in optical phase spatial modulation formats based on electro-optical materials.
在基础科学和工业领域，越来越需要通过简单的方法以定制的精度控制光相位。实现这一目标的最佳候选者之一是电光材料。在这项工作中，提出并通过实验证明了一种利用液晶（LC）调制传播光束空间相位分布的新技术，该液晶由氧化铟锡（ITO）光栅微结构进行电光寻址。一个平面液晶盒组装在基于微结构电极的两个垂直放置的ITO光栅之间。通过仅适当选择四个电压源，我们调制液晶诱导的相位分布，从而产生无衍射贝塞尔光束、激光拉伸、光束转向和二维可调衍射光栅。通过这种方式，所提出的液晶可调组件作为一种具有前所未有的特性和多种功能的一体化器件发挥作用。其工作电压非常低且孔径很大。此外，该器件采用非常简单的电压控制方案运行，并且重量轻、结构紧凑。除了已展示的功能外，所提出的技术可能会为基于电光材料的光学相位空间调制格式开辟进一步的研究途径。
