ACS Publications. Most Trusted. Most Cited. Most Read
Fast Switching Dual-Frequency Nematic Liquid Crystal Tunable Filters
My Activity
    Article

    Fast Switching Dual-Frequency Nematic Liquid Crystal Tunable Filters
    Click to copy article linkArticle link copied!

    • Olha Melnyk*
      Olha Melnyk
      UCCS Biofrontiers Center and Department of Physics and Energy Science, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918, United States
      *E-mail: [email protected]
      More by Olha Melnyk
    • Reed Jones
      Reed Jones
      UCCS Biofrontiers Center and Department of Physics and Energy Science, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918, United States
      More by Reed Jones
    • Rair Macêdo
      Rair Macêdo
      James Watt School of Engineering, Electronics & Nanoscale Engineering Division, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
      More by Rair Macêdo
    • Yuriy Garbovskiy
      Yuriy Garbovskiy
      Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, Connecticut 06050, United States
    • Guy Hagen
      Guy Hagen
      UCCS Biofrontiers Center and Department of Physics and Energy Science, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918, United States
      More by Guy Hagen
    • Anatoliy V. Glushchenko
      Anatoliy V. Glushchenko
      UCCS Biofrontiers Center and Department of Physics and Energy Science, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918, United States
    • Kathrin Spendier
      Kathrin Spendier
      UCCS Biofrontiers Center and Department of Physics and Energy Science, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918, United States
    • Robert E. Camley
      Robert E. Camley
      UCCS Biofrontiers Center and Department of Physics and Energy Science, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918, United States
    Other Access Options

    ACS Photonics

    Cite this: ACS Photonics 2021, 8, 4, 1222–1231
    Click to copy citationCitation copied!
    https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.1c00151
    Published April 6, 2021
    Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society

    Abstract

    Click to copy section linkSection link copied!
    Abstract Image

    We develop tunable optical filters with dual-frequency nematic liquid crystal optical retarders to enable fast switching between the passed wavelengths. The filters are composed of a series of two liquid crystal optical retarders. We select the specific thicknesses of the liquid crystal retarders and use individual biasing schemes to continuously tune the wavelength and bandwidth of the filter. This enables fine-tuned filter switching speeds of filter operation in the ms regime. We present theoretical predictions and experimental results for the electro-optical filter characterization as well as an example application for our filter in total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy. We find that our filter switching speeds can be as short as a few ms, an order of magnitude improvement over typical mechanical filter wheel switching speeds. The quality of our fluorescence images is similar to those obtained by conventional filters.

    Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society

    Read this article

    To access this article, please review the available access options below.

    Get instant access

    Purchase Access

    Read this article for 48 hours. Check out below using your ACS ID or as a guest.

    Recommended

    Access through Your Institution

    You may have access to this article through your institution.

    Your institution does not have access to this content. Add or change your institution or let them know you’d like them to include access.

    Cited By

    Click to copy section linkSection link copied!
    Citation Statements
    Explore this article's citation statements on scite.ai

    This article is cited by 24 publications.

    1. Priscilla P, Michael R. Fisch, Sandeep Kumar, Arvind K. Gathania, Jai Prakash, Supreet, Sanjeev Kumar, Riccardo Castagna, Gautam Singh. Unveiling molecular alignment, dielectric and electrical conductivity of an unaligned 4-octyl-4′-cyanobiphenyl liquid crystal doped with carbon dots. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects 2025, 707 , 135854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2024.135854
    2. L.S. Elbakyan, D.B. Hayrapetyan, P.A. Mantashyan. DFT study of GaAs quantum dot and 5CB liquid crystal molecule interaction. Journal of Molecular Graphics and Modelling 2025, 10 , 108953. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmgm.2025.108953
    3. Keyan Dong, Xinhang Li, Zhaoliang Cao, Bo Zhang, Zonglin Liang, Lei Zhang, Yanbo Wang, Xin Zheng. Dual-wavelength transmission based on liquid crystal tunable filter with high signal-to-noise ratio. Scientific Reports 2024, 14 (1) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-74935-y
    4. Akash Kumar, Jai Prakash, Depanshu Varshney, Anu, Kamlesh Yadav, Gautam Singh. Tailoring the dielectric features of a cyanobiphenyl based liquid crystal using bismuth titanate (Bi2Ti2O7/Bi4Ti3O12) nanocomposite. Indian Journal of Physics 2024, 267 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12648-024-03482-z
    5. Peter Ropač, Yu‐Tung Hsiao, Brecht Berteloot, Miha Ravnik, Jeroen Beeckman. Material‐Constrained Optimization of Liquid Crystal‐Based Holograms. Advanced Optical Materials 2024, 13 https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202400972
    6. Peter Ropac, Miha Ravnik, , , . Topology optimization of soft matter diffraction gratings. 2024, 15. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3015860
    7. Z. Seidalilir, E. Soheyli, R. Sahraei, M. Sabaeian. Enhanced dielectric properties and electro-optic switching responses of Ag–In–S quantum dots-doped nematic liquid crystal. Applied Physics A 2024, 130 (5) https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-024-07529-0
    8. 周子为 Zhou Ziwei, 董成坤 Dong Chengkun, 王佳怡 Wang Jiayi, 何晴 He Qing, 何宜芸 He Yiyun, 夏军 Xia Jun. 液晶超表面动态调制器件综述(特邀). Laser & Optoelectronics Progress 2024, 61 (19) , 1913015. https://doi.org/10.3788/LOP241842
    9. Saeed Sharif Azadeh, Jason C. C. Mak, Hong Chen, Xianshu Luo, Fu-Der Chen, Hongyao Chua, Frank Weiss, Christopher Alexiev, Andrei Stalmashonak, Youngho Jung, John N. Straguzzi, Guo-Qiang Lo, Wesley D. Sacher, Joyce K. S. Poon. Microcantilever-integrated photonic circuits for broadband laser beam scanning. Nature Communications 2023, 14 (1) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38260-8
    10. Chenxiang Liu, Yu Wang, Li Li, Peng Tan, Shuai Li, Guanchao Wang, Wenpeng Guo, Zhenghao Li, Xingkai Che, Hao Tian. Frequency suppression of director oscillations in AC-driven liquid-crystal-based terahertz phase shifters. Optics Express 2023, 31 (22) , 37186. https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.504179
    11. Olha Melnyk, Reed Jones, Rair Macêdo, Robert E. Camley. New quasiperiodic structures in nematic liquid crystals. Soft Matter 2023, 19 (39) , 7644-7654. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3SM00884C
    12. Inge Nys, Peter Ropač, Brecht Berteloot, Miha Ravnik, Kristiaan Neyts. Highly dispersive liquid crystal diffraction gratings with continuously varying periodicity. Journal of Molecular Liquids 2023, 383 , 122062. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2023.122062
    13. Reed Jones, Robert E. Camley, Rair Macêdo. Controlling asymmetric transmission in layered natural hyperbolic crystals. Optics & Laser Technology 2023, 161 , 109210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optlastec.2023.109210
    14. Yoshiaki Shoji, Ryo Komiyama, Miki Kobayashi, Atsuko Kosaka, Takashi Kajitani, Rie Haruki, Reiji Kumai, Shin-ichi Adachi, Tomofumi Tada, Naoyuki Karasawa, Hiroshi Nakano, Hisao Nakamura, Hidehiro Sakurai, Takanori Fukushima. Collective bending motion of a two-dimensionally correlated bowl-stacked columnar liquid crystalline assembly under a shear force. Science Advances 2023, 9 (19) https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adg8202
    15. Ping Yu, Jie Liu, Wenfang Zhang, Yuzhen Zhao, Zemin He, Cheng Ma, Haiquan Zhang, Zongcheng Miao, Wenbo Shen. Ionic liquid-doped liquid crystal/polymer composite for multifunctional smart windows. Dyes and Pigments 2023, 208 , 110817. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2022.110817
    16. M. Khadem Sadigh, A. Ranjkesh, B. Hayatifar. Improving the nonlinear electro-optical responses of doped nematic liquid crystals with chiral dopants. Optical Materials 2023, 135 , 113352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optmat.2022.113352
    17. Huimin Zhang, Zongcheng Miao, Wenbo Shen. Development of polymer-dispersed liquid crystals: From mode innovation to applications. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing 2022, 163 , 107234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2022.107234
    18. Matthew Davies, Matthew J. Hobbs, James Nohl, Benedict Davies, Cornelia Rodenburg, Jon R. Willmott. Aerosol jet printing polymer dispersed liquid crystals on highly curved optical surfaces and edges. Scientific Reports 2022, 12 (1) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23292-9
    19. Rui Yuan, Yuan Liu, Qinggui Tan, Jinman Ge, Peng Chen, Qi Guo, Wei Hu. An All-Liquid-Crystal Strategy for Fast Orbital Angular Momentum Encoding and Optical Vortex Steering. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics 2022, 28 (5: Lidars and Photonic Radars) , 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTQE.2021.3136360
    20. Yoshiaki Shoji, Miki Kobayashi, Atsuko Kosaka, Rie Haruki, Reiji Kumai, Shin-ichi Adachi, Takashi Kajitani, Takanori Fukushima. Design of discotic liquid crystal enabling complete switching along with memory of homeotropic and homogeneous alignment over a large area. Chemical Science 2022, 13 (34) , 9891-9901. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2SC03677K
    21. MATTHEW DAVIES, MATTHEW J. HOBBS, JAMES NOHL, BENEDICT DAVIES, CORNELIA RODENBURG, JON R. WILLMOTT. Aerosol jet printing polymer dispersed liquid crystals on highly curved optical surfaces and edges. 2022https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1921248/v1
    22. A. V. Emelyanenko, V. Yu. Rudyak, S. A. Shvetsov, F. Araoka, H. Nishikawa, K. Ishikawa. Emergence of paraelectric, improper antiferroelectric, and proper ferroelectric nematic phases in a liquid crystal composed of polar molecules. Physical Review E 2022, 105 (6) https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.105.064701
    23. Ruben Feringa, Harmke S. Siebe, W. J. Niels Klement, Jorn D. Steen, Wesley R. Browne. Single wavelength colour tuning of spiropyran and dithienylethene based photochromic coatings. Materials Advances 2022, 3 (1) , 282-289. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1MA00839K
    24. Jiajia Yuan, Wei Fan, He Cheng, Dajie Huang, Tongyao Du. Interference Spectral Imaging Based on Liquid Crystal Relaxation and Its Application in Optical Component Defect Detection. Applied Sciences 2022, 12 (2) , 718. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12020718
    25. Reed Jones, Olha Melnyk, Rair Macêdo, Robert E. Camley. Vertically Stacked Soliton‐Like Domain Walls in Nematic Liquid Crystals. Advanced Theory and Simulations 2021, 4 (11) https://doi.org/10.1002/adts.202100252

    ACS Photonics

    Cite this: ACS Photonics 2021, 8, 4, 1222–1231
    Click to copy citationCitation copied!
    https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.1c00151
    Published April 6, 2021
    Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society

    Article Views

    2002

    Altmetric

    -

    Citations

    Learn about these metrics

    Article Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.

    Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.

    The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated.