Polarization switch using thick holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystal grating

Theoretical study of the optical diffraction properties of holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (HPDLC)-based thick volume grating was presented. It is found that the HPDLC grating can selectively diffract the s-polarized light only, p-polarized light only, or both s and p beams by selecting suitable grating parameters. When an electric field is applied, the s- and p-polarized lights exhibit different diffraction behaviors and, thus, the tunable dual-state or three-state polarization switching could be realized. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.