Abstract

Nematic liquid crystals (LCs) have been successfully used in spatial light modulators. While having excellent light modulation efficiency, LCs usually suffer from a relatively slow response compared to solid-state modulators. In this work we studied the speed-dynamic range trade-offs of nematic liquid crystal materials by analyzing the behavior of Δϕ/Δt, where Δϕ is the phase retardation change and Δt is the associated response time. Analytical expressions for the above parameter were derived for both high- and low-field approximations.

© 1985 Optical Society of America