A liquid crystal geometric phase hyperbolic lens with a positive focal length for arbitrary circularly polarized incidence

TL;DR

This paper introduces a liquid crystal geometric phase hyperbolic lens with positive focal length that can focus arbitrary circularly polarized light, validated through fabrication and experiments, with potential applications in biomedical imaging and optical systems.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel liquid crystal hyperbolic lens design using Pancharatnam-Berry phase for isotropic focusing of circular polarization, validated experimentally.

Findings

Strong agreement between experimental results and theoretical simulations

Successful fabrication of lenses with different focal lengths

Potential for detecting weak polarization states

Abstract

This paper presents the design and experimental validation of a liquid crystal geometric phase hyperbolic lens (LCHL) with positive focal lengths for arbitrary circularly polarized light. Utilizing Pancharatnam-Berry phase modulation, the lens enables isotropic focusing for both left- and right-handed circular polarization. We fabricated and characterized two lenses with different focal lengths, and their diffraction patterns were analyzed experimentally. The results exhibit strong agreement with theoretical simulations, highlighting the lens's capability for precise optical field modulation. The proposed LCHL demonstrates significant potential for detecting weak polarization states, making it a promising tool for advanced applications in biomedical imaging, optical vortex generation, and multifocal optical systems.