Polarization independent Fabry-Perot filter based on polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystals with fast response time

This work demonstrates a polarization-independent electrically tunable Fabry-Perot (FP) filter that is based on polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystals (PSBPLCs). An external vertical electric field can be applied to modulate the effective refractive index of the PSBPLCs along the optical axis. Therefore, the wavelength-tuning property of the FP filter is completely independent of the polarization state of the incident light. The change in the birefringence in PSBPLCs is governed by Kerr effect-induced isotropic-to-anisotropic transition, and so the PSBPLCs based FP filter has a short response time. The measured tunability and free spectral range of the FP filter are 0.092 nm/ V and 16nm in the visible region, and 0.12nm/ V and 97nm in the NIR region, respectively, and the response time is in submillisecond range. The fast-responding polarization-independent electrically tunable FP filter has substantial potential for practical applications. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America