LCPGs for Non-Mechanical Beam Steering and Switchable Optics

Liquid crystal polarization gratings (LCPGs) are diffractive elements that provide near-100% diffraction for circularly polarized light. When layered with thin polarization-controlling liquid crystal elements, LCPGs provide a means of non-mechanically reconfiguring light into different states, such as for beam steering or focusing.

Customers benefit from the patent on the pioneering work with LCPGs in non-mechanical beam steering (US 8,982,313 B2) as well as other related patents.

LCPG-based Optics for Non-mechanical Beam Scanners

Liquid crystal polarization gratings are also known as geometric phase gratings, Pancharatnam-Berry phase gratings, and diffractive waveplates. These transmissive gratings efficiently (> 99.5%) diffract circularly polarized light to either the first positive or negative order, based on the handedness of the incident light. By incorporating fast electro-optic half-wave polarization retarders to control the handedness of polarization, we can develop custom LCPG devices and systems with a range of leading capabilities:

• Wide-angle beam steering > 100°
• Large apertures > 20 cm
• Sub-millisecond switching times
• Dramatically reduced size, weight, and power (SWaP) requirements
• Random-access and inertia-less beam steering
• Dynamic focusing also available