Integrated and reconfigurable optical paths based on stacking optical functional films

Opt Express. 2016 Oct 31;24(22):25510-25514. doi: 10.1364/OE.24.025510.

Abstract

A strategy for integrated and reconfigurable optical paths based on stacking optical functional films is proposed. It is demonstrated by stacking two liquid crystal polymer q-plates and one quarter-wave plate for vector vortex beams generation. The topological charge and polarization order of generated vector vortex beams can be controlled independently by stacking and reordering different optical films with repeated adhesive ability. It supplies a low-cost, light-weight and versatile technique for reducing the volume of free-space optical system and has a great potential in optical researches and applications.