Experimental Kerr constant determination for pure blue phase liquid crystal: oblique incidence in a reflective vertical field switching cell.

Abstract

The use of blue phase liquid crystals (BPLCs) in spatial light modulators (SLMs) offer advantages over traditional nematic LCs due to their polarization-independent behavior. We demonstrate a simplified reflection-mode setup similar to liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) technology to evaluate BPLC performance. Using a vertical field switching (VFS) reflective cell with pure BPLC, we achieve phase modulation without complex cell fabrication methods typically needed for BPLCs in VFS configurations. Our measurements validate the setup's effectiveness in characterizing BPLC electro-optic response. The measured Kerr constant of K ≈ 4.4 nm V^-2 demonstrates this approach's viability for developing BPLC-based SLMs.