US 11,656,484 B2
Voltage-tunable polarizer
Somin Eunice Lee, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Yipei Wang, Ann Arbor, MI (US); and Yunbo Liu, Ann Arbor, MI (US)
Assigned to THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, MI (US)
Appl. No. 16/761,826
Filed by THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, MI (US)
PCT Filed Nov. 9, 2018, PCT No. PCT/US2018/060128
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date May 6, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/094793, PCT Pub. Date May 16, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/583,685, filed on Nov. 9, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2021/0208427 A1, Jul. 8, 2021
Int. Cl. G02F 1/01 (2006.01); G02B 5/30 (2006.01); G02F 1/1335 (2006.01); G02F 1/13363 (2006.01); G02F 1/1347 (2006.01)
CPC G02F 1/0136 (2013.01) [G02B 5/3025 (2013.01); G02F 1/13471 (2013.01); G02F 1/133531 (2021.01); G02F 1/133638 (2021.01)] 5 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A voltage-tunable polarizer, comprising:
a quarter waveplate configured to receive light incident on an incoming surface thereof;
a liquid crystal retarder disposed directly on the quarter waveplate and configured to receive the light passing through the quarter waveplate;
a linear polarizer disposed directly on the liquid crystal retarder and configured to receive the light passing through the liquid crystal retarder;
a second liquid crystal retarder, where the linear polarizer is sandwiched between the liquid crystal retarder and the second liquid crystal retarder;
a second quarter waveplate disposed on the second liquid retarder and configured to receive the light incident on an exposed surface thereof, where the light incident on the second quarter waveplate passes through the second quarter waveplate and the second liquid crystal retarder before being incident upon the linear polarizer; and
a controller that is operably coupled to the liquid crystal retarder and supplies a voltage to the liquid crystal retarder, where, in response to the voltage applied to the liquid crystal retarder, the voltage-tunable polarizer changes polarization state of the light propagating through the voltage-tunable polarizer without mechanical rotation of the voltage-tunable polarizer itself.