Electronically-controllable polarization independent liquid crystal optical medium and devices using same
First Claim
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1. A liquid crystalline optical medium comprising:
- a polymer-stabilized liquid crystal material including a substantially randomly oriented short-pitch cholesteric liquid crystal material stabilized by a polymer material.
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Abstract
A liquid crystalline optical medium includes polymer stabilized liquid crystal material. The polymer stabilized liquid crystal material includes a short pitch cholesteric liquid crystal material stabilized by a polymer material. The effective phase retardation of the polarization independent liquid crystal optical medium can be controlled by external (for example, electric and magnetic) fields.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A liquid crystalline optical medium comprising:
a polymer-stabilized liquid crystal material including a substantially randomly oriented short-pitch cholesteric liquid crystal material stabilized by a polymer material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An optical device comprising:
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a polymer-stabilized liquid crystal material including a substantially randomly oriented short-pitch cholesteric liquid crystal material stabilized by a polymer material wherein (i) a concentration of the polymer material in the polymer-stabilized liquid crystal material and (ii) a highly twisted structure of the short-pitch cholesteric liquid crystal material independently or cooperatively cause the polymer-stabilized liquid crystal material to produce a substantially polarization-independent retardation of at least light having a selected wavelength; and
an optical cell containing the polymer-stabilized liquid crystal material and including electrodes for selectively applying a voltage across the polymer-stabilized liquid crystal material. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for forming a phase modulator comprising:
disposing a polymer-stabilized liquid crystal material including a short-pitch cholesteric liquid crystal material stabilized by a polymer material in an optical cell that includes electrodes for selectively applying a voltage across the polymer-stabilized liquid crystal material. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
Specification