Laser-Damage-Resistant Photoalignment Layers for High-Peak-Power Liquid Crystal Device Applications
Large-aperture liquid crystal (LC) devices have been in continuous use since 1995 as polarization control devices in the 40-TW, 351-nm, 60-beam OMEGA Nd:glass laser system at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics. The feasibility of using a noncontacting alignment method for high-peak-power LC laser optics by irradiation of a linearly photopolymerizable polymer with polarized UV light was recently investigated. These materials were found to have surprisingly large laser-damage thresholds at 1054 nm, approaching that of bare fused silica (30 to 60 J/cm^2). Their remarkable laser-damage resistance and ease in scalability to large apertures of these photoalignment materials, along with the ability to produce multiple alignment states by photolithographic patterning, opens new doorways for their application in LC devices for optics, photonics, and high-peak-power laser applications.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States). Lab. for Laser Energetics
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC52-08NA28302
- OSTI ID:
- 939856
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/SF/28302-856; 2008-127; 1831
- Journal Information:
- Liquid Crystals XII, Vol. 7050; Conference: SPIE Optics adn Photonics, San Diego, CA, 10-14 August 2007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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