PD11 A New Liquid Crystal Prism with an External Electrode

Abstract

A liquid crystal prism is realized using a thin layer of liquid crystal and an external electrode. The external electrode makes a tilt angle with the liquid crystal layer. A gradient electric field is then formed in the liquid crystal. An incident light beam therefore sees a gradient refractive index distribution. The cell thus acts as a prism. The deflection angle of the incident light beam can be controlled by an external voltage. The advantages of the liquid crystal prism over the traditional ones are that the prism can be of large size, and that there is no problem of light scattering.