In order to improve the damage threshold and enlarge the aperture of a laser beam shaper, photolithographic patterning technology is adopted to design a new type of liquid crystal binary mask. The inherent conductive metal layer of commercial liquid crystal electro-optical spatial light modulators is replaced by azobenzene-based photoalignment layers patterned using noncontact photolithography. Using the azobenzene-based photoalignment layer, a liquid crystal binary mask for beam shaping is fabricated. In addition, the shaping ability, damage threshold, write/erase flexibility, and stability of the liquid crystal binary mask are tested. Using a 10-Hz near-IR (1064-nm) laser, the multiple-shot nanosecond damage threshold of the liquid crystal mask is measured to be higher than 15 J/cm². The damage threshold of the azobenzene-based photoalignment layer is higher than 50 J/cm² under the same testing conditions.

Xia Gang, Fan Wei, Huang Dajie, Cheng He, jiangtao guo, Wang Xiaoqin. High-damage-threshold Liquid Crystal Binary Mask for Laser Beam Shaping[J]. High Power Laser Science and Engineering, , (): .  复制并引用该论文