Liquid crystalʼs photoalignment for formation of phase profiles via geometric phase distribution

Authors

  • Veranika Yu. Stanevich Institute of Chemistry of New Materials, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 36 Francyska Skaryny Street, Minsk 220141, Belarus
  • Alexander A. Muravsky Institute of Chemistry of New Materials, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 36 Francyska Skaryny Street, Minsk 220141, Belarus; Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliežnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

Keywords:

phase profile, geometric phase, Pancharatnam – Berry phase, photoalignment, liquid crystals, liquid crystal photonics

Abstract

Basic understandings on the concept of geometric phase, also known as Pancharatnam – Berry phase, and its application to creation of photonic liquid crystal devices as thin-films of photoaligned nematic liquid crystals are presented. The significance of the strong azimuthal anchoring energy and the role of birefringence in liquid crystal photoalignment layer for formation of geometric phase gradients are shown. The dependence of phase retardation of circular polarised light passing through the half-wave phase plate on the azimuthal angle of the plate orientation is explained in details, as it gives ground to formation of geometric phase distribution of optical liquid crystal devices, working in circular polarised light. The effective refractive index is introduced for characterisation of the optical properties of linear periodic liquid crystal’s structure that forms profile of geometric phase surface. The successful implementations of photonic liquid crystal devices (polarisation diffraction grating, annular diffraction grating, q-plate, q-plate with a phase core) are analysed in terms of geometric phase distributions and the corresponding equations of profile of the phase surfaces that ensure functioning of the devices are presented.

Author Biographies

  • Veranika Yu. Stanevich, Institute of Chemistry of New Materials, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 36 Francyska Skaryny Street, Minsk 220141, Belarus

    trainee of junior researcher at the laboratory of materials and technologies of LC devices

  • Alexander A. Muravsky, Institute of Chemistry of New Materials, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 36 Francyska Skaryny Street, Minsk 220141, Belarus; Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliežnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

    PhD (physics and mathematics), docent; head of the laboratory of materials and technologies of LC devices, Institute of Chemistry of New Materials, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, and associate professor at the department of physical optics and applied informatics, faculty of physics, Belarusian State University

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Published

2022-09-26

Issue

No. 3 (2022): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Physics

Section

Optics and Spectroscopy

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How to Cite

(1)
Stanevich, V. Y. .; Muravsky, A. A. . Liquid crystalʼs Photoalignment for Formation of Phase Profiles via Geometric Phase Distribution. Журнал Белорусского государственного университета. Физика 2022, No. 3, 10-25. https://doi.org/10.33581/2520-2243-2022-3-10-25.
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