Controllable shifting, steering, and expanding of light beam based on multi-layer liquid-crystal cells

Mur, Urban (author), Ravnik, Miha (author), Seč, David (author)

Shaping and steering of light beams is essential in many modern applications, ranging from optical tweezers, camera lenses, vision correction to 3D displays. However, current realisations require increasingly greater tunability and aim for lesser specificity for use in diverse applications. Here, we demonstrate tunable light beam control based on multi-layer liquid-crystal cells and external electric field, capable of extended beam shifting, steering, and expanding, using a combination of theory and full numerical modelling, both for liquid crystal orientations and the transmitted light. Specifically, by exploiting three different function-specific and tunable birefringent nematic layers, we show an effective liquid-crystal beam control device, capable of precise control of outgoing light propagation, with possible application in projectors or automotive headlamps.

• Language: English
• Keywords: physics, optics, liquid crystals, materials for optics, theory and computation
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FMF - Faculty of Mathematics and Physics
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2022
• Number of pages: 13 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 12, art. 352
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-145268
• UDC: 535:538.9
• ISSN on article: 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-04164-0
• COBISS.SI-ID: 92936195
• Publication date in RUL: 14.04.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Scientific reports
• Shortened title: Sci. rep.
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• ISSN: 2045-2322
• COBISS.SI-ID: 18727432

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: fizika, optika, tekoči kristali