Active polarization splitting by a photo-responsive liquid crystal

Duan-Yi Guo^1*, Hung-Chang Jau¹, Pei-Chieh Chou¹, Chun-Wei Chen¹, Cheng-Chang Li¹, Shi-Ee Leng¹, Chun-Hong Lee¹, Tsung-Hsien Lin¹

¹Department of Photonics, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

* Presenter:Duan-Yi Guo, email:alex20150131@gmail.com

In this research, we propose an active polarization beam splitter by utilizing a photo-responsive liquid crystal and a hybrid structure composed of two prisms. The polarization beam splitter is characterized by the switching between a polarization-splitting mode and non-splitting mode. Besides, the switching of the beam splitter offers the advantages such as all-optical driven, millisecond response time, and bi-stable operation.

Keywords: liquid crystal, polarization splitting, all-optical driven