中国物理B ›› 2011, Vol. 20 ›› Issue (11): 114216-114216.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/20/11/114216

• CLASSICAL AREAS OF PHENOMENOLOGY • 上一篇    下一篇

Programmable agile beam steering based on a liquid crystal prism

徐林, 黄子强, 杨若夫   

  1. School of Optoelectronic Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
  • 收稿日期:2011-04-02 修回日期:2011-05-23 出版日期:2011-11-15 发布日期:2011-11-15
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2009AA8042017) and the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.

Programmable agile beam steering based on a liquid crystal prism

Xu Lin(徐林)†, Huang Zi-Qiang(黄子强), and Yang Ruo-Fu(杨若夫)   

  1. School of Optoelectronic Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
  • Received:2011-04-02 Revised:2011-05-23 Online:2011-11-15 Published:2011-11-15
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2009AA8042017) and the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.

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摘要： To meet the application need for agile precision beam steering, a novel liquid crystal prism device with a simple structure, convenient control, low cost and applicable performance is presented, and analysed theoretically and experimentally. The relationships between the optical path and the thickness of the liquid crystal cell under different voltages are investigated quantitatively by using a theoretical model. Analysis results show that the optical path profile of the liquid crystal prism has a quasi-linear slope and the standard deviation of the linear slope is less than 16 nm. The slope ratio can be changed by a voltage, which achieves the programmable beam steering and control. Practical liquid crystal prism devices are fabricated. Their deflection angles and wavefront profiles with different voltages are experimentally tested. The results are in good agreement with the simulated results. The results imply that the agile beam steering in a scope of 100 μrad with a micro-rad resolution is substantiated in the device. The two-dimensional beam steering is also achieved by cascading two liquid crystal prism devices.

Abstract: To meet the application need for agile precision beam steering, a novel liquid crystal prism device with a simple structure, convenient control, low cost and applicable performance is presented, and analysed theoretically and experimentally. The relationships between the optical path and the thickness of the liquid crystal cell under different voltages are investigated quantitatively by using a theoretical model. Analysis results show that the optical path profile of the liquid crystal prism has a quasi-linear slope and the standard deviation of the linear slope is less than 16 nm. The slope ratio can be changed by a voltage, which achieves the programmable beam steering and control. Practical liquid crystal prism devices are fabricated. Their deflection angles and wavefront profiles with different voltages are experimentally tested. The results are in good agreement with the simulated results. The results imply that the agile beam steering in a scope of 100 μrad with a micro-rad resolution is substantiated in the device. The two-dimensional beam steering is also achieved by cascading two liquid crystal prism devices.

Key words: liquid crystal, polarization devices, beam steering, optical scanner

中图分类号:  (Liquid crystals)

  • 42.70.Df