Polarization-independent and high-diffraction-efficiency Fresnel lenses based on blue phase liquid crystals

A polarization-independent and high-diffraction-efficiency Fresnel lens is developed based on blue phase liquid crystals (BPLCs). The optically isotropic characteristic of BPLCs is used to produce a polarization-independent Fresnel lens. The small optical phase shift of BPLCs that is induced by the Kerr effect is sufficient for the BPLC Fresnel lens to have high theoretical and experimental diffraction efficiencies of 41% and ～34%, respectively. An electrically erasable memory effect in the focusing diffraction at an electric field E>4.44?V/μm is observed. The electro-optical properties of the BPLC Fresnel lens are analyzed and discussed.     

利用线阵CCD测定液体折射率

采用几何光学与波动光学相结合的方法,利用CCD图像测量技术实现了透明液体折射率的自动化测量.     

液晶中一种稳定的相态:蓝相

文章描述了胆甾相液晶中蓝相的研究现况．蓝相(BP)是液晶中具有特殊性质的一个相态，它的序参量表现出三维空间周期性．蓝相是出现在一个狭小的温度间隔里(量级为0．1—1K)的稳定相态．文章对已观察到的BPⅠ，BPⅡ，BPⅢ(“雾”相)的性质做了简要的叙述．对研究液晶蓝相的主要理论——Ginzburg-Landau理论(唯象理论)作了介绍，并指出了蓝相研究的实际物理意义。     

Structure of blue phase III of cholesteric liquid crystals

We report large scale simulations of the blue phases of cholesteric liquid crystals. Our results suggest a structure for blue phase III, the blue fog, which has been the subject of a long debate in liquid crystal physics. We propose that blue phase III is an amorphous network of disclination lines, which is thermodynamically and kinetically stabilized over crystalline blue phases at intermediate chiralities. This amorphous network becomes ordered under an applied electric field, as seen in experiments.     

Femtosecond laser-induced inverted microstructures inside glasses by tuning refractive index of objective's immersion liquid

We report the formation of inverted microstructures inside glasses after femtosecond laser irradiation by tuning the refractive index contrast between the immersion liquid and the glass sample. By using water as well as 1-bromonaphthalene as immersion liquids, microstructures with similar shape but opposite directions are induced after femtosecond laser irradiation. Interestingly, the elemental distribution in the induced structures is also inverted. The simulation of laser intensity distribution along the laser propagation direction indicates that the interfacial spherical aberration effect is responsible for the inversion of microstructures and elemental distribution.     

Multilayer graphene refractive index tuning by optical power

Graphene's optical absorption coefficient increases linearly with the number of layers making it more effective in the construction of optical tuning graphene-based devices. Refractive index(RI) is one of the important optical parameters of the graphene for accurately describing its optical characteristics and further applications. In view of the RI research of the multilayer graphene is lacking and existing measurement methods are complicated. Optical power tuning RI of multilayer graphene is investigated using a simple measurement and no temperature cross sensitivity all optical fiber sensing structure.Optical power tuning RI characteristics of multilayer graphene are studied by tuning the introducing broad band light power from 0.57 mW to 22.7 m W. Different thickness graphene coating shows different tuning efficiency. At 4.86-μm thickness,a 3.433-nm Bragg wavelength shift is obtained with 156.2-pm/mW wavelength versus optical power tuning sensitivity corresponding to 3.25×10~3 RI change and 0.154 URI/W(URI, unit of RI) RI optical power tuning efficiency.     

Electrical tuning of photonic crystals infilled with liquid crystals

In this paper we perform a complete study of electrical tuning in liquid crystal-infilled two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystals (PCs). The nematic liquid crystal (NLC) is characterized by a full range of bulk and surface elastic parameters. An essentially DC tuning field is applied in the axial direction. By minimizing the total (elastic plus electromagnetic) free energy, the configuration of the NLC directors, as a function of radial distance, is obtained. Three possible configurations are considered: escaped radial, planar radial, and axial. It is found that, in general, the escaped radial configuration is the preferred one. However, for sufficiently large applied fields, a phase transition occurs to the axial configuration. For example, in the case of the NLC 5CB, this transition is realized at about 14 V/μm provided that the cylinder radius is greater than about 50 nm. The configuration of the NLC directors determines the dielectric tensor as function of radial distance and this, in turn, leads to the eigenvalue equation for the PC. We present two such equations: one exact and the other approximate. The exact eigenvalue equation is based on the full anisotropy of the dielectric tensor and does not result in the usual separation of normal modes in a 2D PC. The approximate eigenvalue equation is derived from the average (over the cylinder cross-section) dielectric tensor and leads to modes that are polarized in the directions either parallel (E-mode) or perpendicular (H-mode) to the cylinders. Our calculations of the photonic band structure, by both methods, show that the approximate calculation works very well for the 5CB NLC cylinders in a silicon oxide (silica) host. This allows us to introduce the terminology quasi-E and quasi-H polarizations. We show how the partial photonic band gap in the [1 0 0] direction for these polarizations can be tuned and even completely closed. This behavior could be applied to the design of versatile, tunable polarization filters.     

SPR棱镜传感器测量液体折射率的原理

推导了消失波函数的表达式,介绍了衰减全反射现象及SPR传感器测量液体折射率的原理,并利用SPR传感器测量了牛奶样品的反射系数及折射率与脂肪等主要成分含量的关系曲线.     

High-efficiency and fast-response tunable phase grating using a blue phase liquid crystal

We demonstrate a tunable phase grating using a polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystal. Because of the electric-field-induced rectangularlike phase profile, a high diffraction efficiency of 40% is achieved. Moreover, this device shows submillisecond response time. The proposed tunable phase grating holds great potential for photonics and display applications.     

用表面等离子波相位检测法测量液体折射率

表面等离子体波（ＳＰＷ） 检测技术近年来已被应用在生物传感领域。它通过探测介质的折射率变化来探测生物反应。理论分析表明,利用ＳＰＷ 相位检测的方法可以实现高分辨率的液体折射率测量。在优化测量参数的基础上,使用低频差横向塞曼激光器为光源,进行了验证实验,实验结果与理论相符合。     

用相位恢复方法测量多孔光纤的三维折射率分布

结合计算机断层成像方法，提出了一种新的相位恢复显微测量实验技术.应用该技术测量了多孔光纤的三维折射率分布.这种技术是基于强度传递方程的理论，对相位的测量是直接的，测量对光纤无损害.这是一种测量多孔光纤的三维折射率分布的有效方法. 关键词： 断层法 相位恢复 显微测量 多孔光纤     

Polarization-independent two-dimensional beam steering using liquid crystal optical phased arrays

A polarization-independent nonmechanical laser beam steering scheme is proposed to realize continuous two-dimensional(2 D) scanning with high efficiency, where the core components are two polarization-dependent devices, which are called liquid crystal optical phased arrays(LC-OPAs). These two one-dimensional(1D) devices are orthogonally cascaded to work on the state of azimuthal and elevation steering, respectively. Properties of polarization independence as well as 2D beam steering are mathematically and experimentally verified with a good agreement. Based on the experimental setup, linearly polarized beams with different polarization angles are steered with high accuracy. The measured angular deviations are less than 5 μrad, which is on the same order of the accuracy of the measurement system. This polarization-independent 2 D laser beam steering scheme has potential application for nonmechanical laser communication, lidar, and other LC-based systems.     

表面等离激元探针的高介电灵敏度与液体折射率测定

利用金纳米棒在光照射下激发表面等离激元的性质,实验研究了其在不同介电环境下的吸收光谱.通过分析纵向等离子体共振吸收峰峰位随介质折射率的变化,获得了金纳米棒表面等离激元探针测量介质折射率的经验公式为n=(385.59)-1(λ/nm-290.56).利用金纳米棒表面等离激元探针的高介电灵敏度,测试了一些未知液体的折射率,并与阿贝折射仪测量法的结果相比较.结果与分析表明,本方法较之阿贝折射仪测量介质折射率的方法具有更高的精密度.因此,表面等离探针可用于拓展大学物理实验中的介质折射率测量实验.     

High refractive index sensitivity sensing in gold nanoslit arrays

The extraordinary optical transmission(EOT) phenomenon of nano-periodic aperture array in metallic film has been widely investigated and used in biosensors. The surface plasmon resonance and cavity mode in some periodic nanostructures, such as nanohole and nanoslit, cause EOTs at certain wavelengths. This resonance wavelength is sensitive to the refractive index on the surface of periodic nanostructures. Therefore, the metallic nanostructures are expected to be good sensing elements. The sensing performances of gold nanoslit arrays are experimentally and theoretically investigated.Three-dimensional finite difference time domain(FDTD) simulations are utilized to explore their transmission spectra and steady-state field intensity distributions. The electron beam evaporation, electron beam lithography, and ion milling are applied to the gold nanoslit arrays with different widths and periods. The sensing performances of the gold nanoslit array are characterized via transmission spectra in four kinds of refractive index samples. The highest sensitivity reaches726 nm/RIU when the width of the gold nanoslit array is 38.5 nm.     

用牛顿环产生的干涉条纹测量液体的折射率

提出了用牛顿环实验装置,通过测量干涉条纹的半径来测量液体折射率的方法。     

Automatic refractive index profiling of fibers by phase analysis method using Fourier transform

Automatic fringe pattern analysis is a powerful and inexpensive digital image-processing technique. It is used to analyze the fringe pattern obtained by different optical techniques, such as multiple-beam Fizeau fringes. To perform accurate and fast automatic measurement of fiber refractive index profile, phase analysis method has been used with the Fourier transform technique. In this paper, the refractive index profiles of polyethylene fibers with different draw ratios are presented by two methods, fringe shift method and phase analysis method. A comparison between the results obtained is presented.     

液体折射率的一种新型测量方法

利用液体薄膜的遮光效应原理,建立了一种新的测量液体折射率的方法和装置。选择了3种常见液体:蒸馏水 、无水乙醇 和1,2-丙二醇。利用新建的装置对其折射率进行了测量。实际测量过程中,对实验形成的图样进行了2种测量分析:一种是利用读数显微镜直接测量分析实验结果;一种是利用CCD拍摄记录实验结果,并利用计算机对拍摄结果进行了智能化处理分析。分析了实验误差,实现了实时、全自动化测量。测量结果均与理论值吻合。该方法操作简便、设备简单、重复性好、准确度高。     

Reentrant phase transitions in liquid crystals

A comprehensive review of the recent developments regarding the phenomenon of reentrant phase transitions (RPT) in liquid crystals is presented. In addition to liquid crystals this phenomenon has been observed in amazingly diverse systems. A critical assessment of the experimental investigations concerning single and multiple reentrances is given. A brief account of the theoretical efforts is also given. The article ends with the identification of the factors which impede the proper understanding of the phenomenon.