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Updated: Jun 10, 2026

An Electrochemical Cholesteric Liquid Crystalline Device for Quick and Low-Voltage Color Modulation
Published on: February 27, 2019
Fast-axis orientation dependence on driving voltage for a Stokes polarimeter based on concrete liquid-crystal
P Terrier1, J M Charbois, V Devlaminck
1LAGIS, Bâtiment P3, Université Lille Nord de France, F-59000 Lille, France. patrick.terrier@univ-lille1.fr
Abstract:
Nowadays liquid-crystal variable retarders (LCVRs) are widely used in optical systems because of their capacity to provide a controlled variable optical retardance by means of an applied voltage, without the need of any moving mechanical part. Nevertheless, the main disadvantages of these components, reported by users in several papers, are the necessity of using a temperature control system for precise measurements, the degradation under UV irradiation, and the lack of spatial retardance homogeneity. In this paper, we report that the orientation of the LCVR fast axis may also be dependent on applied voltage. The consideration of this phenomenon improves the performances of an imaging polarimeter. In this work, we present the problem, introduce the method of calibration that was used for the experiment, and discuss the results.
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