Abstract

Using polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs), an electrically switchable binary phase pattern was fabricated to generate Airy beams through a programmable lithographic system. The right main lobe of the reconstructed Airy beam experienced 1.3 mm transverse deflection within 24 cm propagation distance. With a suitable voltage applied, the binary PDLC pattern can be erased due to the index match between polymers and liquid crystals. This versatile approach can be also used to generate other special beams with electrically tunable capability.

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History
Original Manuscript: July 23, 2009
Manuscript Accepted: October 2, 2009
Revised Manuscript: October 2, 2009
Published: October 12, 2009

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Author Affiliations

Y. J. Liu

Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA

X. W. Sun, D. Luo

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore

H. T. Dai

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, SingaporeDepartment of Optical Science and Engineering, the State Key Lab for Advanced Photonic Materials and Devices, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China

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