Deep ultraviolet hydrogel based on 2D cobalt-doped titanate

Abstract

Birefringent optical elements that work in deep ultraviolet (DUV) region become increasingly important these years. However, most of the DUV optical elements have fixed birefringence which is hard to be tuned. Here, we invent a birefringence-tunable optical hydrogel with mechano-birefringence effect in the DUV region, based on two-dimensional (2D) low-cobalt-doped titanate. This 2D oxide material has an optical anisotropy factor of 1.5 × 10–11 C2 J−1 m−1, larger than maximum value obtained previously, leading to an extremely large specific magneto-optical Cotton-Mouton coefficient of 3.9 × 106 T−2 m−1. The extremely large coefficient enables the fabrication of birefringent hydrogel in a small magnetic field with an ultra-low concentration of 2D oxide material. The hydrogel can stably and continuously modulate 303 nm DUV light with large phase tunability by varying the strain (compression or stretching) from 0 to 50%. Our work opens the door to design and fabricate new proof-of-concept DUV birefringence-tunable element, as demonstrated by optical hydrogels capable of DUV modulation by mechanical stimuli.

A multifunctional optoelectronic device based on 2D material with wide bandgap

“…We synthesized 2D material, as depicted in the Fig. 1a 30,31 . We started with uniformly blending of the raw materials in the given ratio, followed by high-temperature recrystallization, yielding a layered bulk material with potassium ions predominantly interspersed between the layers, while lithium-doped titanium oxide mainly dominates on both anks.…”

Polarization-Controlled Nonlinear Computer-Generated Holography

“…Nonetheless, other conversion processes are possible, reaching from second harmonic generation at different fundamental frequencies up to other nonlinear processes like sum frequency generation. Currently, there is research on new materials with tunable birefringence in the UV spectral range for spatial light modulators with results showing light modulation at 303 nm [45]. We see the potential of our method for approaching even deeper UV spectral ranges.…”

Polarization-controlled nonlinear computer-generated holography

“…Nonetheless, other conversion processes are possible, reaching from second harmonic generation at different fundamental frequencies up to other nonlinear processes like sum frequency generation. Currently, there is research on new materials with tunable birefringence in the UV spectral range for spatial light modulators with results showing light modulation at 49 . We see the potential of our method for approaching even deeper UV spectral ranges.…”