Liquid crystals: a new topic in physics for undergraduates

Pavlin, Jerneja; Vaupotič, Nataša; Čepič, Mojca

doi:10.1088/0143-0807/34/3/745

Cited by 20 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In particular we review the known approaches for creating arbitrary optical modes by complex amplitude modulation on phase-only spatial light modulators, and provide some examples of the power of this technique. For more information on liquid crystal spatial light modulators the reader is referred to previous review and tutorial articles [8][9][10]. Consider the transformation of FIGURE 2.…”

Section: Structured Light With Digital Hologramsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such devices (see Fig. 1) have been extensively reviewed in the context of tutorials on getting started [8][9][10] as well as their various applications. The ease of use of such devices has spurned many new applications for real-time structured light, for example, holographic optical trapping and tweezing [11], quantum information processing [12], mode division multiplexling [13], microscopy [14], 3D holographic imaging and metrology [15][16][17] and even in lasers [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Creation and detection of optical modes with spatial light modulators

2016

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Modal decomposition of light has been known for a long time, applied mostly to pattern recognition. With the commercialization of liquid crystal devices, digital holography as an enabling tool has become accessible to all, and with it all-digital tools for the decomposition of light has finally come of age. We review recent advances in unravelling the properties of light, from the modal structure of laser beams, to decoding the information stored in orbital angular momentum carrying fields. We show application of these tools to fibre lasers, solid-state lasers and structured light created in the laboratory by holographic laser beam shaping. We show by experimental implementation how digital holograms may be used to infer the intensity, phase, wavefront, Poynting vector, polarization and orbital angular momentum density of some unknown optical field. In particular, we outline how virtually all the previous ISO-standard beam diagnostic techniques may be readily replaced with all-digital equivalents, thus paving the way for unravelling of light in real-time. Such tools are highly relevant to the in situ analysis of laser systems, to mode division multiplexing as an emerging tool in optical communication, and for quantum information processing with entangled photons.

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Section: Structured Light With Digital Hologramsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Creation and detection of optical modes with spatial light modulators

2016

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“…It should be noted that all the phase techniques and elements (such as the holographic technique and the forked grating) described in the previous section can be implemented using an active SLM such as LCoS. 74,92,93 The required holograms are calculated using the mathematical expressions described in earlier sections for generation of OAM modes. Let us consider the generation of OAM modes of azimuthal order ðlÞ equal 1 to 6.…”

Section: Generation Using Holographic Optical Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Generation and decomposition of scalar and vector modes carrying orbital angular momentum: a review

et al. 2019

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Orbital angular momentum (OAM), one of the most recently discovered degrees of freedom of light beam field has fundamentally revolutionized optical physics and its technological capabilities. Optical beams with OAM have enabled a large variety of applications, including super-resolution imaging, optical trapping, classical and quantum optical communication, and quantum computing, to mention a few. To enable these and several other emerging applications, optical beams with OAM have been generated using a variety of methods and technologies, such as a simple astigmatic lens pair, one-/two-dimensional holographic optical elements, threedimensional spiral phase plates, optical fibers, and recent entrants such as metasurfaces. All these techniques achieve spatial light modulation and can be implemented with either passive elements or active devices, such as liquid crystal on silicon and digital micromirror devices. Many of these devices and technologies are not only used for the generation of amplitude phase-polarization structured light beams but are also capable of analyzing them. We have attempted to encompass a wide variety of such technologies as well as a few emerging methodologies, broadly categorized into generation and detection protocols. We address the needs of scientists and engineers who desire to generate/detect OAM modes and are looking for the technique (active or passive) best suited for their application. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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“…Thus, there is a tradeoff between generated efficiency and fabrication complexity . The commercial liquid‐crystal spatial light modulators (SLM) are another effective tool for the generation of an arbitrary OAM field, but they are expensive and only respond to a specified polarization state …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Free‐Space Orbital Angular Momentum Multiplexing Communication System Based on a Metasurface

Tan

Deng

Zhao

et al. 2019

Laser & Photonics Reviews

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Optical vortex beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) have received great attention since the 1990s. In particular, OAM offers an additional degree of freedom, thus, enabling boosting of data transmission capacity in communication systems. One of the major challenges of OAM-based communication lies in multiplexing OAM via a kind of effective, compact, and flexible approach. Here, a novel approach to achieve the generation and combination of OAM beams by a pre-engineered reflective metasurface chip is demonstrated. Compared to traditional methods of OAM generation, this approach shows superiorities of broadband operating wavelength, high mode purity, flexible design, and compact size. Moreover, a free-space OAM multiplexing communication experiment based on the single metasurface is successfully carried out, performing 448 Gbit s −1 data transmission with four different topological charges of OAM and two polarizations by 28-GBaud QPSK signals. This work experimentally demonstrates promising applications of the metasurface in high-capacity optical communication systems.

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Liquid crystals: a new topic in physics for undergraduates

Cited by 20 publications

References 30 publications

Creation and detection of optical modes with spatial light modulators

Creation and detection of optical modes with spatial light modulators

Generation and decomposition of scalar and vector modes carrying orbital angular momentum: a review

A Free‐Space Orbital Angular Momentum Multiplexing Communication System Based on a Metasurface

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