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Liquid Crystal Operating Principles

Leave a Comment / Liquid Crystal Resources /

Meadowlark Optics DOWNLOAD PRINCIPLES Liquid Crystal Variable Retarders are solid state, real-time, continuously tunable waveplates. Nematic liquid crystals are birefringent materials whose effective birefringence can be changed by varying an applied voltage. Meadowlark Optics Liquid Crystal Retarders are constructed using precision polished, optically flat fused silica windows spaced a few microns apart. The cavity is […]

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LCPG Principles

Liquid Crystal Polarization Grating Resources /

Download PDF Fundamentals Liquid crystal polarization gratings (PGs) are fascinating optical components that differ from traditional diffraction gratings, like ruled, Bragg, or holographic gratings. In particular, PGs exhibit polarization sensitivity, can have diffraction efficiency approaching 100%, and are much less sensitive to incident angle than, for example, Bragg or volume holographic gratings. To understand how

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Polarizer Principles

Polarization Resources /

Meadowlark Optics DOWNLOAD PRINCIPLES Dichroic Polarizers Meadowlark Optics offers an extensive line of dichroic polarizers made from both polymer and treated glass materials. Dichroic refers to the selective polarization absorption of the anisotropic polarizing material (Diattenuation). These polarizers are usually constructed by laminating a thin, stretched and dyed polymer film between two polished and antireflection-coated

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Spatial Light Modulator Principles

Spatial Light Modulator Resources /

Download Principles Meadowlark Optics award-winning Spatial Light Modulators (SLMs) provide precision retardance control for spatially varying phase or amplitude requirements. Our SLMs consist of liquid crystal (LC) pixels, each independently addressed, acting as separate variable retarders. These SLMs are easily incorporated into optical systems requiring programmable masks and variable input/output devices. Applications include correlation, spectroscopy,

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Polarizer Selection Guide

Selection Guides /

Why Choose Meadowlark Polarizers?

Wide Range of Options – This selection chart provides an at-a-glance view of our standard polarizers broken down into Circular, Linear and Beam splitting categories.

Broad Wavelength Capabilities – Our standard polarizers are designed for use in the 220-nm to 6-micron range (with custom options up to 15 microns.)

High Quality and Precision – Meadowlark Optics is proud to continue providing our customers with industry-leading specifications including excellent surface quality, high extinction ratio, low transmitted wavefront distortion, and more.

Custom Solutions – Prism clusters, attached retarders, odd shapes and sizes – while we are delighted to provide you one of our standard components or systems, we are just as happy to customize a solution that more exactly fits your needs.

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Waveplate Principles

Waveplate Resources /

Download Principles Retarders are used in applications where control or analysis of polarization states is required. Our retarder products include innovative polymer and liquid crystal materials as well as commonly used quartz.  Other crystalline materials such as magnesium fluoride are also available upon request. Please call for a custom quote. A retarder (or waveplate) is

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Waveplate Selection Guide

Selection Guides /

Why Choose Meadowlark Waveplates?

Industry-Leading Metrology –
Our proprietary measurement techniques provide you with extremely accurate calibration measurements for every waveplate/retarder we ship.

High Quality and Precision –
When selecting a waveplate, key performance features must be considered; examples of these include wavelength dependence, temperature sensitivity, acceptance angle, response time and aperture size. Our waveplate selection chart provides an at-a-glance view of our standard retarders; as always, Meadowlark solutions engineers are happy to assist you in the process of selecting a retarder that works best for your application.

Custom Solutions –
Space flight retarders, superachromatic retarders from 500 to 1200 nm, retarders attached to beamsplitter cubes, retarder coatings applied to lenses and mirrors, variable retarders with switching speeds in picoseconds, ferroelectric liquid crystal retarders switching at low voltages from 50 to 100 microseconds, and more.

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Basic Polarization Techniques and Devices

Waveplate Resources /

Meadowlark Optics Basic Polarization Techniques and Devices © 2005 Meadowlark Optics, Inc. This application note briefly describes polarized light, retardation and a few of the tools used to manipulate the polarization state of light. Also included are descriptions of basic component combinations that provide common light manipulation tools such as optical isolators, light attenuators, polarization

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Polarizer Selection Guide

Selection Guides /

Meadowlark Optics Meadowlark Polarizers are available in circular, linear, and beam splitting types. Standard models are designed for either broad or specific wavelength capabilities, for use in the 220-nm to 6-micron range, and custom options extend up to 15 microns. Meadowlark Optics delivers high quality and precision, featuring excellent surface quality, high extinction ratio, and

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Versalight Wire Grid Polarizer construction

Compact Optical Beam Scanner

Polarization Resources /

Geometric-phase microscopy (GPM) uses changes in the phase of light passing through biological specimens to yield high-resolution and high-contrast images, instead of relying on the attenuation of light used conventionally. Polarization optics and a spatial light modulator generate spatially variant polarization states of light that interact with the sample, creating a relative phase shift between transmitted and reflected light waves. By analyzing the phase information, GPM can reveal details not visible with other microscopy techniques. GPM is an effective non-invasive tool for live cell and tissue studies, with potential to enhance biological systems knowledge.

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