Title :
Combined blazed grating/Gires-Tournois resonator for liquid crystal beam switching
Author :
Apter, Boris ; Efron, Uzi
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Holon Acad. Inst. of Technol., Israel
Abstract :
A new concept of liquid crystal (LC) beam switching structure is introduced and analyzed. The main advantages of this device are its ability to perform triple-state beam switching, using a single uniform electrode as well as its reduced LC thickness, leading to a potentially fast response. The device is also aimed at overcoming the problems associated with the use of LC index mismatch in a hybrid surface-relief blazed grating. The configuration is based on an embedded blazed diffractive grating, composed of two optical substrates with different refractive indexes and a uniform-thickness LC layer, enclosed in a Gires-Tournois resonator. It is shown that this structure, which also removes the difficulty of LC alignment in hybrid blazed LC-glass structures, allows a dynamic switching of a laser beam with a diffraction efficiency exceeding 67%.
Keywords :
diffraction gratings; laser beams; liquid crystal devices; liquid crystals; optical resonators; optical switches; refractive index; Gires-Tournois resonator; diffraction efficiency; diffractive grating; laser beams; liquid crystal beam switching; refractive index; surface-relief blazed grating; Electrodes; Gratings; Laser beams; Liquid crystal devices; Liquid crystals; Optical diffraction; Optical refraction; Optical resonators; Optical scattering; Optical variables control; Asymmetric Fabry–PÉrot resonator; Gires–Tournois resonator; beam switching; diffraction; liquid crystal (LC) devices; optical switch;
Journal_Title :
Lightwave Technology, Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JLT.2005.862449
