Programmable spatially-varying linearly polarized light with high degree of polarization for planar liquid crystal photonics

The use of liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LC-SLM) to manipulate the polarization of the light has been widely explored for different applications, including optical field manipulation, maskless lithography, polarization imaging, and LC planar-optics, among others. Precise polarization manipulation of LC-SLM is therefore highly demanded. Here, we introduce a high-efficiency approach for calibrating the polarization manipulation of a parallel-aligned LC-SLM. The approach revolves around the primary calibration criterion, the degree of polarization (DoP). Through parameter optimization to generate the calibration grayscale, a remarkable DoP as high as 97 % can be attained, with a sustained DoP level of up to 93.7 %. Experimental results showcase outstanding DoP uniformity in the modulated beam achieved with the calibrated LC-SLM. The root mean square error (RMSE) of polarization for modulated light from LC-SLM is about 0.018. A pixelated polarization calibration approach is proposed to enable efficient and precise programming of spatially-varying linearly polarized light (SVLPL), which can be further verified by the implementation of the Pancharatnam-Berry (PB) lens. The resolution of the fabricated LC planar optical elements with our setup can reach 1.54 μm. The programmable SVLPL with high DoP and resolution is potentially useful for many applications in planar optics and vectorial optical field manipulation.