title: Electrical control of shape of laser beam using axially symmetric liquid crystal cells.
abstract: This work demonstrates the electrical tuning of laser beam shape using an axially symmetric dye-dope liquid crystal (ASDDLC) device that is fabricated using a photo-alignment method. Various beam shapes can be obtained by linearly polarized Gaussian laser beams through an ASDDLC device under various applied voltages. The far-field intensity patterns generated by laser beams of selected shapes under various applied voltages are simulated, and the results are consistent with experiment. A rotatable petal-shaped beam is obtained by controlling the polarization of the output donut-shaped beam. The tenability of beam shape of light with a wavelength of 1064 nm, which is commonly used in biomedical applications, is also demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Electro-Optical Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Wei
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Tsung-Hsien
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yao-Han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hung-Chang
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Jau
authors.forename: Shu-Chun
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Yan-Yu
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Andy Y-G
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Fuh