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Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) gratings, as an emerging optical material, offer significant advantages such as low fabrication cost, suitability for large-area processing, and rapid electro-optic response. They show great potential in holographic waveguide displays and optical interconnection systems, where they are often used as key beam-splitting and coupling components. However, most current beam-splitting devices based on PDLC materials are limited to generating 2×2 diffraction arrays, which considerably restricts their ability to achieve multi-channel and multi-order light field modulation, thereby failing to meet the growing demands of high-dimensional optical information processing.
To overcome this limitation, this study proposes a fabrication scheme for two-dimensional PDLC gratings based on holographic multi-beam interference. First, starting from holographic interference theory, we rigorously derived the light intensity distribution function of the multibeam interference field. Second, a physical model of a volume holographic transmission grating with a refractive index distribution matching the interference field intensity was constructed using the finite element analysis software COMSOL Multiphysics. Utilizing this model, we simulated and optimized the final diffraction performance by varying key fabrication parameters, such as the exposure intensity ratio between the reference and object beams and the grating layer thickness.
During the experimental validation phase, we successfully fabricated a one-dimensional PDLC grating using a symmetrical three-wave interference exposure method. Under normal incidence with a 532 nm laser, the fabricated one-dimensional PDLC grating demonstrated symmetric diffraction, with the pair of first-order beams both exhibiting a diffraction efficiency exceeding 44%, thereby preliminarily verifying the reliability of the model. Building on this foundation, we further designed an innovative five-wave interference exposure setup. Using a custom-made quadrilateral pyramid beam splitter, we achieved five-beam interference and successfully prepared a two-dimensional PDLC grating that met the design specifications. Test results demonstrate that under normal incidence at 532 nm, this two-dimensional grating produces a 3×3 two-dimensionaldiffraction array. The 1st-order diffraction angle is 18.4°, and the beamsplitting energy ratio of each single 1st-order diffracted light exceeds 10%, achieving efficient energy distribution.-
Keywords:
- polymer-dispersed liquid crystal /
- multi-wave interference /
- two-dimensional grating /
- beam splitting device
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