Liquid Crystal Beam Steering Devices: Principles, Recent Advances, and Future Developments

Continuous, wide field-of-view, high-efficiency, and fast-response beam steering devices are desirable in a plethora of applications. Liquid crystals (LCs)—soft, bi-refringent, and self-assembled materials which respond to various external stimuli—are especially promising for ful...

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Main Authors: Ziqian He, Fangwang Gou, Ran Chen, Kun Yin, Tao Zhan, Shin-Tson Wu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-06-01
Series:Crystals
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/9/6/292
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author Ziqian He
Fangwang Gou
Ran Chen
Kun Yin
Tao Zhan
Shin-Tson Wu
author_facet Ziqian He
Fangwang Gou
Ran Chen
Kun Yin
Tao Zhan
Shin-Tson Wu
author_sort Ziqian He
collection DOAJ
description Continuous, wide field-of-view, high-efficiency, and fast-response beam steering devices are desirable in a plethora of applications. Liquid crystals (LCs)—soft, bi-refringent, and self-assembled materials which respond to various external stimuli—are especially promising for fulfilling these demands. In this paper, we review recent advances in LC beam steering devices. We first describe the general operation principles of LC beam steering techniques. Next, we delve into different kinds of beam steering devices, compare their pros and cons, and propose a new LC-cladding waveguide beam steerer using resistive electrodes and present our simulation results. Finally, two future development challenges are addressed: Fast response time for mid-wave infrared (MWIR) beam steering, and device hybridization for large-angle, high-efficiency, and continuous beam steering. To achieve fast response times for MWIR beam steering using a transmission-type optical phased array, we develop a low-loss polymer-network liquid crystal and characterize its electro-optical properties.
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spelling doaj.art-03d9fe5b9bbf4e4a8fa6f8dd886d09f22022-12-22T02:57:43ZengMDPI AGCrystals2073-43522019-06-019629210.3390/cryst9060292cryst9060292Liquid Crystal Beam Steering Devices: Principles, Recent Advances, and Future DevelopmentsZiqian He0Fangwang Gou1Ran Chen2Kun Yin3Tao Zhan4Shin-Tson Wu5College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USACollege of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USACollege of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USACollege of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USACollege of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USACollege of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USAContinuous, wide field-of-view, high-efficiency, and fast-response beam steering devices are desirable in a plethora of applications. Liquid crystals (LCs)—soft, bi-refringent, and self-assembled materials which respond to various external stimuli—are especially promising for fulfilling these demands. In this paper, we review recent advances in LC beam steering devices. We first describe the general operation principles of LC beam steering techniques. Next, we delve into different kinds of beam steering devices, compare their pros and cons, and propose a new LC-cladding waveguide beam steerer using resistive electrodes and present our simulation results. Finally, two future development challenges are addressed: Fast response time for mid-wave infrared (MWIR) beam steering, and device hybridization for large-angle, high-efficiency, and continuous beam steering. To achieve fast response times for MWIR beam steering using a transmission-type optical phased array, we develop a low-loss polymer-network liquid crystal and characterize its electro-optical properties.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/9/6/292liquid crystalsbeam steeringoptical phased arraysliquid-crystal waveguidesPancharatnam‐Berry phasevolume gratingsfast response time
spellingShingle Ziqian He
Fangwang Gou
Ran Chen
Kun Yin
Tao Zhan
Shin-Tson Wu
Liquid Crystal Beam Steering Devices: Principles, Recent Advances, and Future Developments
Crystals
liquid crystals
beam steering
optical phased arrays
liquid-crystal waveguides
Pancharatnam‐Berry phase
volume gratings
fast response time
title Liquid Crystal Beam Steering Devices: Principles, Recent Advances, and Future Developments
title_full Liquid Crystal Beam Steering Devices: Principles, Recent Advances, and Future Developments
title_fullStr Liquid Crystal Beam Steering Devices: Principles, Recent Advances, and Future Developments
title_full_unstemmed Liquid Crystal Beam Steering Devices: Principles, Recent Advances, and Future Developments
title_short Liquid Crystal Beam Steering Devices: Principles, Recent Advances, and Future Developments
title_sort liquid crystal beam steering devices principles recent advances and future developments
topic liquid crystals
beam steering
optical phased arrays
liquid-crystal waveguides
Pancharatnam‐Berry phase
volume gratings
fast response time
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/9/6/292
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AT ranchen liquidcrystalbeamsteeringdevicesprinciplesrecentadvancesandfuturedevelopments
AT kunyin liquidcrystalbeamsteeringdevicesprinciplesrecentadvancesandfuturedevelopments
AT taozhan liquidcrystalbeamsteeringdevicesprinciplesrecentadvancesandfuturedevelopments
AT shintsonwu liquidcrystalbeamsteeringdevicesprinciplesrecentadvancesandfuturedevelopments