Applications Of Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulator In Generate Optical Vortices And Vector Beams

Liquid crystal spatial Light modulator (LCSLM) is the key device of modern optics and information optics, which has a lot of advantages like high resolution ratio, high speed, low power consumption, real-time computer control and so on. Application of LCSLM in the optical information process is more and more widely. In this paper, applications of Liquid crystal spatial Light modulator in generate optical vortices and vector beams are studied.In the field of optical vortices, firstly a vortex beam with different topological charges is generated by using reflected type phase only liquid crystal spatial light modulator (R-LCSLM). According to the interference characters of a vortex beam and a plane wave or a spherical wave, verified that the generated beam is vortex beams by theory and experimental. Then a vortex beam with different topological charges is also generated by using transmission type liquid crystal spatial light modulator (T-LCSLM). Compared these two method, we found that have advantages like high resolution ratio, high speed, low power consumption, real-time computer control simple, easy optical system and so on. But the energy conversion efficiency of T-LCSLM is lower than R-LCSLM which is up to60%.In the field of vector beams, first by using numerical methods it is calculated that the vector beams can be obtained by overlapping an optical vortices with topological charge of+2and a plane wave or by overlapping two optical vortices with topological charge of+1and-1. Then vector beams generated by using reflected type phase only liquid crystal spatial light modulator (R-LCSLM). The experimental results show that, by using this method, different kinds of cylindrical symmetric vector beams can be obtained very simply and easily, and could be switched to each other at video rate, and has higher energy conversion efficiency (up to60%).The whole paper is divided into four chapters. Chapter1:The principle and application of LCSLM and the outline of optical vortices and vector beams are reviewed. Chapter2:The research and development of optical vortices and the generated of optical vortices. Chapter3:The research and development of vortex beams and the generated of vortex beams. Chapter4:Summary and expectation.