Over the last several years, we have pioneered liquid crystal polarization gratings (PGs), in both switchable and polymer versions. We have also introduced their use in many applications, including mechanical/non-mechanical laser beam steering and polarization imaging/sensing. Until now, conventional holographic congurations were used to create PGs where the diameter of the active area was limited to 1-2 inches. In this paper, we discuss a new holography setup to fabricate large area PGs using spherical waves as the diverging coherent beams. Various design parameters of this setup are examined for impact on the quality of the recorded PG profile. Using this setup, we demonstrate a large area polymer PG with approximately 66 inch square area, and present detailed characterization.

Date Published: 15 May 2012
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8395, Acquisition, Tracking, Pointing, and Laser Systems Technologies XXVI, 83950G (15 May 2012);

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8395:
Acquisition, Tracking, Pointing, and Laser Systems Technologies XXVI
William E. Thompson; Paul F. McManamon, Editor(s)