June 2019
Spotlight Summary by Haifeng Li
Polarization-independent fast optical shutter with high transmission
Optical shutters can be used as light blocking or light modulation devices in optical instruments, 3D display systems, or even augmented reality glasses. Some high-speed shutters are acousto-optic or electro-optic modulators, but they usually have a very small optical aperture that limits their applications. Liquid crystal (LC) shutters have a large optical aperture and are low cost, but have long response times, and because of their polarization-dependent property, the light efficiency is low. This paper presents the design of a fast cholesteric LC shutter, which works by switching the LC director between the homeotropic and the transient planar state to get the response time below milliseconds. The device has two LC cells together with a half-wave plate in the middle that makes it polarization independent, thus improving the light transmittance efficiently. It works under the designed driving voltage waveform with a certain on- and off-time. A device design that can allow for an extended time interval for light blocking is also shown in this paper.
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Article Information
Polarization-independent fast optical shutter with high transmission
Xiayu Feng, Kostadin Beev, and Philip Bos
Appl. Opt. 58(17) 4622-4629 (2019) View: HTML | PDF