Variable phase retarder made of a dielectric elastomer actuator.

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Optics Letters. 2009 Mar 15;34(6):803-5
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Variable phase retarder made of a dielectric elastomer actuator.
Beck M, Fiolka R, Stemmer A
Note: Research in this publication was not performed at Janelia.
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Abstract

We present a polymeric optical phase retarder that is electrically tunable by a dielectric elastomer actuator. The soft material device affords a large tuning range (14pi at lambda=488 nm) combined with high accuracy in optical path length and low drift rate (8.3 nm/min). Furthermore, the phase retarder is not sensitive to polarization, introduces a wavefront distortion141 kW/cm2). We show the dynamics for periodic phase modulation and demonstrate a simple drive technique for fast phase stepping. The polymer-based device is inexpensive, easy to fabricate, and its design can be adapted to specific applications.

PMID: 19282938 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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