Ferroelectric liquid crystal Pancharatnam-Berry lens with a fast control of output light’s polarization-handedness

We report the ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) Pancharatnam-Berry lenses (PBLs) with rapid transmittance tunability. The FLC PBLs were fabricated using a single-step holographic exposure system based on a spatial light modulator working as numerous polarization retarders, providing a simple way to fabricate FLC continuous aligning structures. A state-selection sector containing a binary FLC switch was utilized for fast changing input light’s polarization handedness. Thus, when light passes through a FLC PBL, the output light’s polarization handedness can be switched accordingly. In this case, FLC PBLs can function as concave/convex lenses with rapidly switching speed. Photo sensitive azo-dye material was used as the aligning layer for both FLC PBLs and FLC switches. The fabricated FLC PBLs and the FLC switches show fast switching-on times of 150µs and 50µs respectively. The FLC PBLs combining with the state-selection sector can have potential applications on varies displays and augmented reality.