Polarization-independent rapidly responding phase grating based on hybrid blue phase liquid crystal

This work demonstrates a polymer-stabilized blue phase (PSBP) liquid crystal phase grating, which is made of hybrid PSBPs with two different Kerr constants. The Kerr constant of a PSBP is related to the morphology of the polymer network which can be controlled by the phase separation temperature. Owing to the non-patterned electrode and the optical isotropy of the PSBP, the diffraction effect can be completely switched off when the voltage is absent. The diffraction intensity increases when a uniform applied electrical field induces the phase difference in the hybrid PSBP. The phase grating is completely independent of the polarization of the incident light. Furthermore, the response time to switching is in the sub-millisecond range. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4790375]