Open AccessPolarization aberrations of electrically tunable liquid crystal mirrors
Author(s) -
Yu-Jen Wang,
Yi Lin,
Ozan Cakmakci,
Victor Reshetnyak
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.390952
Subject(s) - optics , wavefront , liquid crystal , polarization (electrochemistry) , materials science , optoelectronics , physics , chemistry
Curved mirrors are able to fold optical paths and play important roles in compact optical systems in general. In this paper, we investigate the polarization aberrations of electrically tunable liquid crystal (LC) mirrors with two kinds of configurations (flat and curved ones). The LC mirrors exhibit spatially-continuous tunable wavefronts. The detailed wavefronts of two LC mirrors are related to angles of incidence, polarization of light, and the alignment direction of LC molecules. The key contribution of this paper is the development and characterization of a tunable liquid crystal mirror. The tunability of polarization aberration of LC mirrors should be able to provide extra parameters for optical engineers to design versatile optical systems.