Endless smectic A* liquid crystal polarization controller
Résumé
We propose and demonstrate an endless polarization controller that uses the electroclinic effect in the smectic A* phase with homeotropic orientation. This kind of device has a great importance in optical telecommunications for polarization mode dispersion compensation, polarization multiplexing or to compensate polarization dependent losses. Its main characteristics are both high speed and endless control. To realize a liquid crystal waveplate with an arbitrary birefringence orientation, we use an in-plane rotating electric field