RESUMEN
A method to measure the optical response across the surface of a phase-only liquid crystal on silicon device using binary phase gratings is described together with a procedure to compensate its spatial optical phase variation. As a result, the residual power between zero and the minima of the first diffraction order for a binary grating can be reduced by more than 10 dB, from -15.98 dB to -26.29 dB. This phase compensation method is also shown to be useful in nonbinary cases. A reduction in the worst crosstalk by 5.32 dB can be achieved when quantized blazed gratings are used.
RESUMEN
A technique of cross talk mitigation developed for liquid crystal on silicon spatial light modulator based optical interconnects and fiber switches is demonstrated. By purposefully introducing an appropriate aberration into the system, it is possible to reduce the worst-case cross talk by over 10 dB compared to conventional Fourier-transform-based designs. Tests at a wavelength of 674 nm validate this approach, and show that there is no noticeable reduction in diffraction efficiency. A 27% spot increase in beam diameter is observed, which is predicted to reduce at longer datacom and telecom wavelengths.
RESUMEN
It is shown that reflective liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) spatial light modulator (SLM) based interconnects or fiber switches that use defocus to reduce crosstalk can be evaluated and optimized using a fractional Fourier transform if certain optical symmetry conditions are met. Theoretically the maximum allowable linear hologram phase error compared to a Fourier switch is increased by a factor of six before the target crosstalk for telecom applications of -40 dB is exceeded. A Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm incorporating a fractional Fourier transform modified for use with a reflective LCOS SLM is used to optimize multi-casting holograms in a prototype telecom switch. Experiments are in close agreement to predicted performance.
RESUMEN
Tunable materials with high anisotropy of refractive index and low loss are of particular interest in the microwave and terahertz range. Nematic liquid crystals are highly sensitive to electric and magnetic fields and may be designed to have particularly high birefringence. In this paper we investigate birefringence and absorption losses in an isothiocyanate based liquid crystal (designed for high anisotropy) in a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum, namely 0.1-4 GHz, 30 GHz, 0.5-1.8 THz, and in the visible and near-infrared region (400 nm-1600 nm). We report high birefringence (Δn = 0.19-0.395) and low loss in this material. This is attractive for tunable microwave and terahertz device applications.
RESUMEN
A nematic liquid crystal spatial light modulator used as a phase-modulating device and operating in the reflective mode is analyzed using three-dimensional modeling. Two configurations, which differ in their electrode placement relative to a fixed quarter-wave plate, are considered across a range of steering directions, with the grating conformal and in some cases oblique to the pixel grid. For each steering direction the sensitivity of the diffraction orders to the polarization state of the incident wavefront is studied. Optimal alignment of the liquid crystal is suggested to reduce this sensitivity.
RESUMEN
Dye-doped nematic liquid crystals (LCs) are studied as materials for single-layer optically addressed spatial light modulators. The dopant is 2,5-azo-substituted anthraquinone (ASAQ) dye. The resolution in the ASAQ-doped LC systems does not depend on the device thickness (in the 5-125 microm range). The efficiency increases with the increase of the thickness and begins to saturate in devices thicker than 40 microm. The limiting resolution in the thick devices is 400 line pairs per millimeter. The limitations of performance (efficiency and resolution) in the studied systems are discussed.