The theoretical design and fabrication of a prism-coupled polarization conversion ferroelectric liquid-crystal light-modulator
The theoretical design and fabrication of a prism-coupled polarization conversion ferroelectric liquid-crystal light-modulator
It is possible to probe directly the optical dielectric tensor configuration within thin smectic layers (less than 6 µm thick) of ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) by the propagation of optical prism-coupled leaky Fabry-Pérot modes. Incident polarized monochromatic light couples into the resonant modes of the system and may be coupled out of the cell in an orthogonal polarization. The observed reflectivity is a series of sharp peaks on a low background response at certain well-defined incident angles. These sharp resonant features make the prism-coupling technique a possible route for commercial fabrication of voltage-modulated devices. However, previous prism-coupled cells with sharp resonant guided mode features are not practical from a device point of view because they incorporate silver layers not used in conventional cell design. In this paper we demonstrate for the first time operating a leaky guided mode FLC cell with conventional surface layers, in a sp-mixed polarization mode of operation, allows sharp features to be observed which are modulated in intensity by an applied d.c. voltage. The prism-coupled cells used here are designed to be compatible with current FLC device technology.
217-224
Lavers, C.R.
16297c8f-6625-4e72-9699-4d8bfe464600
10 August 1993
Lavers, C.R.
16297c8f-6625-4e72-9699-4d8bfe464600
Lavers, C.R.
(1993)
The theoretical design and fabrication of a prism-coupled polarization conversion ferroelectric liquid-crystal light-modulator.
Thin Solid Films, 230 (2), .
(doi:10.1016/0040-6090(93)90518-T).
Abstract
It is possible to probe directly the optical dielectric tensor configuration within thin smectic layers (less than 6 µm thick) of ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) by the propagation of optical prism-coupled leaky Fabry-Pérot modes. Incident polarized monochromatic light couples into the resonant modes of the system and may be coupled out of the cell in an orthogonal polarization. The observed reflectivity is a series of sharp peaks on a low background response at certain well-defined incident angles. These sharp resonant features make the prism-coupling technique a possible route for commercial fabrication of voltage-modulated devices. However, previous prism-coupled cells with sharp resonant guided mode features are not practical from a device point of view because they incorporate silver layers not used in conventional cell design. In this paper we demonstrate for the first time operating a leaky guided mode FLC cell with conventional surface layers, in a sp-mixed polarization mode of operation, allows sharp features to be observed which are modulated in intensity by an applied d.c. voltage. The prism-coupled cells used here are designed to be compatible with current FLC device technology.
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Published date: 10 August 1993
Organisations:
Optoelectronics Research Centre
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Local EPrints ID: 78094
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/78094
ISSN: 0040-6090
PURE UUID: c5039897-369b-485b-8033-7e0a2304b00e
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Date deposited: 11 Mar 2010
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 00:05
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Author:
C.R. Lavers
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