Efficiency improvements in a dichroic dye-doped liquid crystal Fresnel lens

TY - JOUR

T1 - Efficiency improvements in a dichroic dye-doped liquid crystal Fresnel lens

AU - Jull, Ethan I.L.

AU - Wahle, Markus

AU - Wyatt, Peter J.M.

AU - Ellis, Colin

AU - Cowling, Stephen J.

AU - Goodby, John W.

AU - Usami, Kiyoaki

AU - Gleeson, Helen F.

PY - 2019/9/16

Y1 - 2019/9/16

N2 - A dichroic dye-doped liquid crystal Fresnel lens was fabricated and investigated to observe the combination of phase and amplitude modulation based focusing. An anthraquinone dichroic dye was doped into a liquid crystal host, which when in the Fresnel lens configuration, generates a Fresnel zone plate with alternating “transparent” and “opaque” zones. The zones were induced by using photo-alignment of a light-sensitive alignment layer to generate the alternating pattern. The voltage dependency of efficiency for the dye-doped and pure liquid crystal Fresnel devices were investigated. Incorporation of dyes into the device yielded a significant 4% improvement in relative efficiency in the lens, giving a maximum of 37% achieved in the device, much closer to the theoretical 41% limit when compared with the non-dye-doped device. The input polarization dependence of efficiency was also investigated, showing very small fluctuations (±1.5%), allowing further insight into the effect of fabrication method on these liquid crystal Fresnel devices.

AB - A dichroic dye-doped liquid crystal Fresnel lens was fabricated and investigated to observe the combination of phase and amplitude modulation based focusing. An anthraquinone dichroic dye was doped into a liquid crystal host, which when in the Fresnel lens configuration, generates a Fresnel zone plate with alternating “transparent” and “opaque” zones. The zones were induced by using photo-alignment of a light-sensitive alignment layer to generate the alternating pattern. The voltage dependency of efficiency for the dye-doped and pure liquid crystal Fresnel devices were investigated. Incorporation of dyes into the device yielded a significant 4% improvement in relative efficiency in the lens, giving a maximum of 37% achieved in the device, much closer to the theoretical 41% limit when compared with the non-dye-doped device. The input polarization dependence of efficiency was also investigated, showing very small fluctuations (±1.5%), allowing further insight into the effect of fabrication method on these liquid crystal Fresnel devices.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85072186869&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1364/OE.27.026799

DO - 10.1364/OE.27.026799

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85072186869

SN - 1094-4087

VL - 27

SP - 26799

EP - 26806

JO - Optics Express

JF - Optics Express

IS - 19

ER -