Ultra-broadband wavelength conversion sensor using thermochromic liquid crystals

Ichun Anderson Chen; S. W. Park; G. Chen; C. Wang; C. Bethea; R. Martini; D. Woolard

doi:10.1117/12.2012071

27 March 2013 Ultra-broadband wavelength conversion sensor using thermochromic liquid crystals

Ichun Anderson Chen, S. W. Park, G. Chen, C. Wang, C. Bethea, R. Martini, D. Woolard

Proceedings Volume 8624, Terahertz, RF, Millimeter, and Submillimeter-Wave Technology and Applications VI; 862415 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2012071
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2013, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Wavelength conversion (WC) imaging is a methodology that employs temperature sensitive detectors to convert photoinduced termperature into a detectable optical signal. One specific method is to use molecular detectors such as thermochromic liquid crystals (TLC), which exhibits thermochromism to observe the surface temperature of an area by observing the apparent color in the visible spectrum. Utilizing this methodology, an ultra-broadband room temperature imaging system was envisioned and realized using off the shelf thermochromic liquid crystals. The thermochromic properties of the sensor were characterized to show a thermochromic coefficient α = 10%/°K and a noise equivalent power (NEP) of 64 μW. With the TLC camera, images of both pulsed and continuous wave (CW) sources spanning 0.6 μm to 150 μm wavelengths were captured to demonstrate its potential as a portable, low-cost, and ultra-broadband imaging tool.

Citation Download Citation

Ichun Anderson Chen, S. W. Park, G. Chen, C. Wang, C. Bethea, R. Martini, and D. Woolard "Ultra-broadband wavelength conversion sensor using thermochromic liquid crystals", Proc. SPIE 8624, Terahertz, RF, Millimeter, and Submillimeter-Wave Technology and Applications VI, 862415 (27 March 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2012071

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