Polarization beam splitters using polarization diffraction gratings

We report a polarization beam splitter that uses polarization gratings written onto a zero-twist nematic liquid-crystal display. We show three configurations. The first two separate the diffracted light into two orthogonally polarized orders that are either linearly or circularly polarized. In the third configuration, we demonstrate a novel case for which the output is separated into two nonorthonormal polarization states. One component is linearly polarized and the second is circularly polarized. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.