Digital backplane liquid crystal on silicon devices (LCoS) are widely used in wavefront engineering applications due the maturity of the technology, thus the reliability of their performance. A thorough study of the relation between the different control parameters and their effect on the retardance modulation is lacking though. These control parameters, which are the low and high levels of the voltage signal together with the grey level addressed, in relation with the retardance modulation produced are explored across the whole visible spectrum. From a more practical point of view, this enables to decide which voltage parameters across the whole range of possibilities are the most appropriate for a certain wavefront engineering problem without the need to measure them in advance. Additionally, we are interested in the comparison of two different approaches developed in our research group to obtain the retardance modulation to see their possible pros and cons. The results presented are backed by the experimental measurements provided.
Spatial Light Modulators (SLMs) typically use PA-LCoS microdisplays, known for high resolution and small pixel size, for phase-only modulation. However, different phenomena related to the cross-talk, fringing fields between pixels, and out-of-plane reorientation of the liquid crystal director degrade the performance of pixelated SLM devices. The technology faces the challenge of overcoming these phenomena as novel applications require higher pixel size resolutions and smaller pixel sizes. This work applies a numerical workflow that permits the analysis of the different parameters that set up a PA-LCoS microdisplay, e.g., fill factor, pixel size, external voltage and the influence of the LC director and the interaction of light through the structure. Specifically, we focus our analysis on the impact of high-frequency binary phase gratings on the radiometric and polarimetric response with orthogonal grating vectors. The heterogenous LC distribution as a function of the grey level along the 3D structure and the inhomogeneous distribution of the Stokes parameters are analysed, setting up a framework to analyse the nonlinear behaviour of the system and its impact on diffraction and polarimetric performance in future microdisplays with higher resolutions and smaller pixel sizes.
Typically, a 360º phase-shift is required to implement diffractive optical elements (DOEs) in modern photonics applications. However, the possibility of showing much larger phase-shifts is a very appealing property which provides additional degrees of freedom to produce multiplexed functions onto DOEs. On the other hand, modern liquid crystal on silicon devices (LCoS) add real-time programmability to the functionality of the DOE displayed, but this has been typically demonstrated by parallel-aligned LCoS (PA-LCoS) devices. We show programmable DOEs produced using vertically-aligned LCoS (VA-LCoS) devices, with a phase-shift range largely exceeding 360º. We show some results dealing with blazed gratings and on the analysis of their higher diffraction orders, validating their use for multiorder diffractive optical elements.
The phase-shift exhibited by liquid crystal on silicon devices (LCoS) depends on the voltage applied and the illumination wavelength. Most of the LCoS used in the labs are digitally addressed using a binary pulse width modulated signal. Usually, these devices are characterized for a very small range of the available binary voltage values and for specific wavelengths. In this work, we consider a commercial parallel-aligned liquid crystal on silicon device (PA-LCoS) in which the binary voltages are accessible through the software of the vendor. We perform a complete averaged Stokes polarimetric characterization of the device where we are able to obtain the absolute unwrapped retardance values for a wide range of voltage parameters and across the visible spectrum. This provides a practical approach to evaluate the whole range of phase modulation possibilities, and to analyze some issues related with the physics of the device.
KEYWORDS: Holographic concentrators, Multiplexing, Diffraction, Solar cells, Holography, Sunlight, Solar concentrators, Photovoltaics, Holographic optical elements, Solar energy
Solar concentrator systems represent an important challenge in our society for outstanding photovoltaic (PV) applications. Fresnel lenses or parabolic mirrors concentrate sunlight in a small solar cell surface. On the one hand, Fresnel lenses have an exceedingly small acceptance angle and require expensive tracking systems to follow the path of the Sun. On the other hand, conventional parabolic mirrors need periodic maintenance of the surface reflectivity. Holographic optical elements (HOEs) represent a suitable alternative to Fresnel lenses and solar reflectors, they are cheaper and more versatile. Particularly, multiplexed holographic solar concentrators (HSCs) give an insight into promising possibilities for Building-Integrated Concentrating PV (BICPV). A good trade-off between wide acceptance angle and high diffraction efficiency represents an important milestone in the area. Our research group obtained the higher acceptance angle in a multiplexed HSC design (Morales et. al. Opt. Express 30, 25366 (2022)). This design was composed of seven holographic multiplexed lenses in Biophotopol material with thick thickness, 197 μm. In the present work, more efficient holographic solar concentrators than previous works are shown. As far as we know, it has been obtained the best trade-off between high efficiency and wide acceptance angle HSC-PV solar cell systems.
Photosensitive materials and optical information processing technologies based on holographic and photonic techniques are suffering a huge improvement. Furthermore Spatial Light Modulators (SLMs) based on LCoS microdisplays (PALCoS) open new possibilities to modulate the wavefront of a light beam. The improving of the models of the photopolymers as optical recording material together with the modelling of PALCoS, high resolution reflective devices, make possible the generation and recording of Diffractive Optical Elements (DOE) on the photosensitive materials. This DOEs have many important applications in photonics, communications of optical information processing. Working with a setup based on a LCoS display as a master, we can store complex DOEs. We used in this work PVA/AA based on acrylamide with coverplating and index matching system to avoid the influence of the thickness variation on the transmitted light in the material. With the 3-Dimensional diffusion model we can predict the DOE properties before recording and optimize the recording time and the exposure dose. Experimental data is compared with the simulation results to evaluate the accuracy of our model to reproduce the recording of any kind of complex DOE onto a photopolymer. This allows us to choose the appropriate characteristics for the material depending on the application and evaluate the influence of different parameters involved in the DOE generation. In this work we evaluate the simulation of the recording of optical vortexes, axicons, fork gratings and diffractive lenses comparing with the results using our experimental set-up.
Phase spatial light modulators and, in particular, parallel-aligned liquid crystal on silicon (PA-LCoS) microdisplays are widely used to display programmable diffractive optical elements (DOEs). These are pixelated elements with inherent different characteristics when compared with DOEs produced with micro-optics fabrication techniques. Specifically, programmable DOEs may be affected by the fill factor, time-flicker, fringing-field and interpixel cross talk effects, and limited and quantized modulation depth of the LCoS device. Among the multilevel DOEs, we focus on the important case of the blazed gratings. We develop the corresponding analytical expressions for the diffracted field where, as novelties of this work, fill factor and flicker are introduced together with phase depth and the number of quantization levels. Different experimental-based normalizations are considered, which may lead to wrong conclusions if the fill factor is not considered in the expressions. We also analyze the differences arising between one- and two-dimensional pixelated devices. When compared with numerical procedures, our approach provides an analytical expression that facilitates the design, prediction, and discussion of experiments. As an application, we prove, for the limiting case of no interpixel cross talk, that multiorder DOEs cannot be more efficient than the equivalent single-order DOE. We also show how the results for DOEs with a unit fill factor can be adapted to DOEs with a fill factor smaller than one with a very efficient procedure.
Parallel-aligned liquid crystal on silicon (PA-LCoS) microdisplays are widely used in spatial light modulation applications, especially in those requiring phase-only modulation. One such application area is programmable diffractive optics which plays a very important role in modern optical imaging systems or in optical interconnections for optical telecommunications. Among the multilevel diffractive optical elements (DOEs) we focus on the important case of the blazed gratings. We develop the corresponding analytical expressions for the diffracted field where, as one of the novelties in the work, an analytical expression including the fill factor and the flicker is obtained. This enables to have a model against to compare the experimental results in a number of situations where fill factor, flicker, period, and number of quantization levels are the variables. This also enables to design appropriate compensation techniques to enhance the performance of the blazed gratings.
We have included a Parallel Aligned Liquid Crystal on Silicon (PA-LCoS) microdisplay in a Holographic Data Storage System (HDSS). This novel display, widely accepted as Spatial Light Modulator (SLM), presents some advantages and disadvantages. One of these disadvantages is the anamorphic and frequency dependent effect. In this work we want to test this effect and see its effects in the complete optical process involved in the HDSS. We will use stripe-based patterns with different orientation (vertical and horizontal). To check the limits, we will increase the data density by decreasing the minimum stripe width. For evaluating the degradation suffered by the data page, we use the Bit Error Rate (BER) as figure of merit. We make a BER calculation from the statistical analysis of the histogram. In addition to the anamorphic effects we evaluate the degradation effects introduced by the non-uniformity in the illumination. To this goal we divide the image in several regions that are processed in the same way that the entire image. The error analysis of the entire optical system is useful for its calibration and fine adjustment. Once we have characterized the experimental setup we introduce the holographic material. Thus, by making the same analysis, we can evaluate the errors introduced by the material. As holographic material we use Polyvinyl Alcohol Acrylamide (PVA/AA), that has been characterized and developed in previous works by our group.
Simplified analytical models with predictive capability enable simpler and faster optimization of the performance in applications of complex photonic devices. We recently demonstrated the most simplified analytical model still showing predictive capability for parallel-aligned liquid crystal on silicon (PA-LCoS) devices, which provides the voltage-dependent retardance for a very wide range of incidence angles and any wavelength in the visible. We further show that the proposed model is not only phenomenological but also physically meaningful, since two of its parameters provide the correct values for important internal properties of these devices related to the birefringence, cell gap, and director profile. Therefore, the proposed model can be used as a means to inspect internal physical properties of the cell. As an innovation, we also show the applicability of the split-field finite-difference time-domain (SF-FDTD) technique for phase-shift and retardance evaluation of PA-LCoS devices under oblique incidence. As a simplified model for PA-LCoS devices, we also consider the exact description of homogeneous birefringent slabs. However, we show that, despite its higher degree of simplification, the proposed model is more robust, providing unambiguous and physically meaningful solutions when fitting its parameters.
Recently we demonstrated a novel and simplified model enabling to calculate the voltage dependent retardance provided
by parallel aligned liquid crystal devices (PA-LCoS) for a very wide range of incidence angles and any wavelength in the
visible. To our knowledge it represents the most simplified approach still showing predictive capability. Deeper insight
into the physics behind the simplified model is necessary to understand if the parameters in the model are physically
meaningful. Since the PA-LCoS is a black-box where we do not have information about the physical parameters of the
device, we cannot perform this kind of analysis using the experimental retardance measurements. In this work we
develop realistic simulations for the non-linear tilt of the liquid crystal director across the thickness of the liquid crystal
layer in the PA devices. We consider these profiles to have a sine-like shape, which is a good approximation for typical
ranges of applied voltage in commercial PA-LCoS microdisplays. For these simulations we develop a rigorous method
based on the split-field finite difference time domain (SF-FDTD) technique which provides realistic retardance values.
These values are used as the experimental measurements to which the simplified model is fitted. From this analysis we
learn that the simplified model is very robust, providing unambiguous solutions when fitting its parameters. We also
learn that two of the parameters in the model are physically meaningful, proving a useful reverse-engineering approach,
with predictive capability, to probe into internal characteristics of the PA-LCoS device.
The concentration dependence of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) in optically pumped polystyrene (PS) films containing a variable concentration (between 2.5 and 100 % by weight (wt)) of the luminescent and hole-transporting organic molecule N,N'-Bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N'-diphenylbenzidine (TPD) is studied. It is observed that the photoluminiscence (PL) efficiency, the ASE threshold and the linewidth above threshold, decrease with concentration up to 20 wt % doped films and then keeps a constant value up to concentrations of 100 wt % (neat films). The position of ASE can be tuned between 413nm and 421 nm by changing the concentration of TPD. It was also possible to tune the ASE position (between 404 and 417 nm) trough control of the film thickness (between 100 and 200 nm). The observed shifts of the ASE position due to changes in concentration are determined by the PL efficiency (not by the waveguiding characteristics of the films). On the other hand, the observed shifts in the ASE position due to changes in film thickness depend on the shape of the PL spectrum and on cut-off thickness limitations. In this case, the ASE thresholds depend on the different confinement of the propagation modes due to thickness variations.
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