Liquid-crystal blazed-grating beam deflector.
A transmission-type nonmechanical multiple-angle beam-steering device that uses liquid-crystal blazed grating has been developed. Sixteen steering angles with a contrast ratio of 18 has been demonstrated. A detailed analysis of the liquid-crystal and poly(methyl methacrylate) blazed-grating deflector was carried out to provide guidance during the deflector's development. A manufacturing offset compensation technique is proposed to improve the device's performance greatly. A hybrid approach utilizing electrically generated blazed grating combined with the cascading approach described here yields in excess of 500 deflecting angles.
Wang
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X
Department of Electrical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
Wilson
D
D
Muller
R
R
Maker
P
P
Psaltis
D
D