Laser damage to photo and rubbed liquid crystal alignment materials

作者：Zoey S. Davidson, Jason U. Wallace, Yasaman Sargol Zaei Aval, Nathaniel D. Urban, Stavros G. Demos, Kenneth Marshall, Selim Elhadj · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1117/12.2685244 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Surface Roughness and Optical Measurements、Laser Material Processing Techniques、Ocular and Laser Science Research

Our study analyzed the laser-damage threshold of liquid crystal alignment materials, including photoaligned azobenzene, rubbed polyimide, and rubbed nylon. We found that the presence of liquid crystal was necessary to observe variation in damage thresholds among alignment materials. Nylon outperformed photoalignment, which outperformed polyimide. We also investigated the polarization dependence of the damage threshold in ordinary and extraordinary modes at a near-infrared wavelength and found that only the photoalignment material demonstrated polarization sensitivity at our statistical power level. Our results can inform the design of high-power beam-shaping devices for various applications, including fusion, 3-D printing, and defense systems.