Large Area Dynamic Diffractive Waveplates

We will explore the feasibility of designing and demonstrating large area polarization independent optical systems which, particularly, can be switched between a transmittive and reflective state using either an electrically controlled or photocontrolled phase retarders utilizing diffractive waveplate lenses (DWLs) and cycloidal diffractive waveplates (CDWs). Fundamental limitations and technological difficulties hinder modernization of optical components to match the achievements in light sources. Thus, optics used in imaging, communications, material processing, displays, optical filtering, chemical and biological sensing and other photonics applications, particularly, involving lasers and large area beams, is still either bulky or aberrational, inefficient or narrowband. Many photonics applications such as beam steering with no mechanically moving parts, information display and optical processing, holography, optical phase reversal, and optical switching require dynamic electro-optical or all-optical control with light propagation. We shall explore liquid crystalline materials (LCs) in both electro-optical and all-optical constructs due to their largest electro-optical and nonlinear optical constants, the opportunity of easily customizing LC material properties, the opportunity for obtaining the largest changes of their optical states, efficiently controlled with low-voltage and low-power electric fields as well as low power laser beams.