New paper in J. Opt. Soc. Am. B about the colors of a tunable q-plate
Our new paper in Journal of the Optical Society of America B is entitled Using birefringence colors to evaluate a tunable liquid-crystal q-plate. Here we show a tunable liquid-crystal commercial -plate from the company Arcoptix, operative in the visible and near-IR range. We study its spectral and color birefringence properties under broadband illumination.
We first characterize the spectral retardance function of the device in a wide range from 400 to 1600 nm and determine how it changes upon applied voltage.
Then we evaluate the color transmission characteristics when inserting the -plate between crossed and parallel linear polarizers. These color properties agree with the trajectory in the CIExy chromaticity diagram as the applied voltage changes.
Finally, we demonstrate that a simple visual inspection of the transmitted birefringence color perceived when placing the -plate between crossed polarizers can be used to obtain a rapid estimation of the -plate retardance at given wavelength ranges.
This work is the first paper of the PhD Thesis of David Marco.