Liquid-Crystal-Based Controllable Attenuators Operating in the 1-4 Terahertz Band

This is a preprint and may not have undergone formal peer review

Abstract

Liquid-crystal devices (LCDs) offer a potential route toward adaptive optical components for use in the < 2 THz band of the electromagnetic spectrum. We demonstrate LCDs using a commercially available material (E7), with unbiased birefringence values of 0.14-0.18 in the 0.3-4 THz band. We exploit the linear dichroism of the material to modulate the emission from a 3.4-THz quantum cascade laser by up to 40%, dependent upon both the liquid-crystal layer thickness and the bias voltage applied.

Metadata

Authors/Creators:

Dunn, A
Zhang, Z
Horbury, M
Nuttall, EV
Han, Y
Salih, M
Li, LH
Bond, A
Saleh, E
Harris, R
Daghestani, N
Pardo, D
Ellison, BN
Burnett, AD
Gleeson, HF
Valavanis, A https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5565-0463

Dates:

Published: 14 June 2023

Institution:

The University of Leeds

Academic Units:

The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Electronic & Electrical Engineering (Leeds) > Pollard Institute (Leeds)

Funding Information:

Funder	Grant number
UK Space Agency Polaris House	Not Known
MRC (Medical Research Council)	MR/S016929/1.
EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)	EP/P007449/1
EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)	EP/P027687/1
UK Space Agency Polaris House	Not Known