A high birefringence liquid crystal for lenses with large aperture

Abstract

This work presents the application of an experimental nematic liquid crystal (LC) mixture (1929) in a large aperture lens. The LC material is composed of terphenyl and biphenyl derivatives compounds with an isothiocyanate terminal group and fluorinated lateral substituents. The substitution with a strongly polar isothiocyanate group and an aromatic rigid core provides $$\pi$$ π -electron coupling, providing high birefringence ($$\Delta n = 0.3375$$ Δ n = 0.3375 at 636 nm and 23 °C) and low viscosity ($$\eta$$ η = 17.03 mPa s). In addition, it also shows high values of birefringence at near infrared (0.318 at 1550 nm). The synthesis process is simple when comparing materials with high melting temperatures. The excellent properties of this LC mixture are demonstrated in a large aperture LC-tunable lens based on a transmission electrode structure. Thanks to the particular characteristics of this mixture, the optical power is high. The high birefringence makes this LC of specific interest for lenses and optical phase modulators and devices, both in the visible and infrared regions.

Dynamic control of Bessel beams with longitudinally varying polarization through liquid-crystal anisotropic axicons

“…Following the rubbing treatment, the LC axicon device was assembled. A LC mixture having positive dielectric anisotropy and high birefringence [22] was infiltrated into the cavity.…”

Luminescent and photoconductive liquid crystalline lamellar and helical network phases of achiral polycatenars

“…Sulfur-containing LC materials 35–40 exhibit strong birefringence owing to the high polarizability of the sulfur atom 41–43 and are of special interest for various applications including liquid crystal displays, 44,45 LC lenses, 46,47 lasers 48 and fast third-order nonlinear switching. 49…”

Designing Optical Anisotropy: Silver-Aminoalkylpyridine Nitrate Complexes with Tunable Structures

“…Birefringence is a crucial optical property utilized to harness the polarization features of light . This characteristic has attracted significant attention for its potential applications in optics, , photonics, , and displays . In the pursuit of developing effective birefringent materials, various approaches have been explored, − including the incorporation of ions with stereochemically active optical lone-pair electrons, − metal cations exhibiting an asymmetric coordination nature, − and structural units featuring a large π-conjugated system. ,, When employing the π-conjugated system method, the primary objective is to leverage the weak binding force of π-electrons within the ring plane to enhance sensitivity to external optical fields.…”