Phase measurements of a twisted nematic liquid crystal spatial light modulator with a common-path interferometer

We present a novel and high accuracy (±1°) technique for measuring the difference in phase delay between the positive and negative eigenvectors of a twisted nematic liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LCSLM) as a function of applied voltage. We show a new architecture for a common-path interferometer where we simultaneously generate both the positive and negative eigenvectors of the LCSLM. We use an electro-optic light modulator to provide a time varying phase shift between the two eigenvectors and measure the phase delay difference between the two eigenvectors. We compare the phase delay values with those obtained using a Mach–Zehnder interferometer and find good agreement.