SBIR Phase I: A New Class of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals for High Performance Optical Phase Modulation

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将探索开发一种新型铁电液晶（FLC）材料和一种新型FLC操作模式，以产生快速、模拟、电光相位调制。该创新利用了FLCs科学技术的两个新发展：弯芯FLCs和高极化FLCs的静电控制模拟调制。第一阶段的目标是制备新型FLCs的增强材料，并使用它们来测试所提出的电光调制模式的可行性。预期结果包括对创新可行性的评估，对这些新材料的物理、化学和光学特性的进一步了解，以及在第二阶段为后续商业化需要实现的进一步FLC材料和电池进展的确定。新的相位调制器将比现有的用向列相lc制成的调制器快得多，并且将在更低的驱动电压下工作。他们还将实现全360度范围的纯模拟相位调制，无需光轴旋转，这是使用传统flc无法实现的目标。相位调制是光电光束转向和光波前校正的基础，在自由空间光通信、通信用M × N全光开关、航空激光雷达的光束转向和光波束整形以及主动光学中都有应用。新的flc还将为新兴的全息数据存储行业提供更高性能的兆比特写头，并将对光学信息处理有用。它们还可以实现对WDM光通信系统有用的快速可调谐滤波器。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will explore the development of a new class of ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) materials and a novel FLC operating mode to produce fast, analog, electro-optical phase modulation. The innovation exploits two new developments in the science and technology of FLCs: bent-core FLCs and electrostatically controlled analog modulation of high polarization FLCs. The Phase I objectives are to formulate enhanced materials of the new-type FLCs and use them to test the feasibility of the proposed electro-optic modulation mode. Anticipated results include an assessment of the innovation's feasibility, an improved understanding of the physical, chemical, and optical properties of these new materials, and the identification of further FLC material and cell advances that need to be achieved in Phase II for subsequent commercialization. The new phase modulators will be much faster than existing modulators made with nematic LCs and will operate at lower drive voltage. They will also achieve a full 360 degrees range of pure analog phase modulation with no optic axis rotation, a goal that has been impossible to reach using conventional FLCs.Phase modulation is the foundation for electro-optical beam steering and optical wave front correction, which find application in free-space optical communications, in M x N all-optical switches for telecommunications, in beam steering and beam shaping for laser radar in aviation, and in active optics. The new FLCs will also enable higher performance megabit write-heads for the emerging holographic data storage industry, and will be useful for optical information processing. They also enable fast tunable filters useful for WDM optical telecommunications systems.