Enhancing laser speckle reduction by decreasing the pitch of a chiral nematic liquid crystal diffuser

Abstract The artefact known as speckle can plague numerous imaging applications where the narrow linewidth of laser light is required, which includes laser projection and medical imaging. Here, we report on the use of thin-film chiral nematic liquid crystal (LC) devices that can be used to mitigate...

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Autores principales:	David J. Hansford, Yihan Jin, Steve J. Elston, Stephen M. Morris
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/34f387eeb2034256a7ed9bd12d18bc45
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:34f387eeb2034256a7ed9bd12d18bc452021-12-02T15:53:02ZEnhancing laser speckle reduction by decreasing the pitch of a chiral nematic liquid crystal diffuser10.1038/s41598-021-83860-32045-2322https://doaj.org/article/34f387eeb2034256a7ed9bd12d18bc452021-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83860-3https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The artefact known as speckle can plague numerous imaging applications where the narrow linewidth of laser light is required, which includes laser projection and medical imaging. Here, we report on the use of thin-film chiral nematic liquid crystal (LC) devices that can be used to mitigate the influence of speckle when subjected to an applied electric field. Results are presented which show that the speckle contrast (a quantitative measure of the presence of speckle) can be significantly reduced by decreasing the pitch of the chiral nematic LC from 2700 to 244 nm. Further reduction in the speckle contrast can be observed by operating the diffuser technology at a temperature close to the chiral nematic to isotropic transition. At such temperatures, we observe a simultaneous improvement in the transmission of light through the device and a decrease in the electric field amplitude required for the minimum speckle contrast value. We conclude by presenting a laser projected image of the 1951 USAF target with and without the LC device to demonstrate the visual improvement as a result of the speckle reduction.David J. HansfordYihan JinSteve J. ElstonStephen M. MorrisNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q David J. Hansford Yihan Jin Steve J. Elston Stephen M. Morris Enhancing laser speckle reduction by decreasing the pitch of a chiral nematic liquid crystal diffuser
description	Abstract The artefact known as speckle can plague numerous imaging applications where the narrow linewidth of laser light is required, which includes laser projection and medical imaging. Here, we report on the use of thin-film chiral nematic liquid crystal (LC) devices that can be used to mitigate the influence of speckle when subjected to an applied electric field. Results are presented which show that the speckle contrast (a quantitative measure of the presence of speckle) can be significantly reduced by decreasing the pitch of the chiral nematic LC from 2700 to 244 nm. Further reduction in the speckle contrast can be observed by operating the diffuser technology at a temperature close to the chiral nematic to isotropic transition. At such temperatures, we observe a simultaneous improvement in the transmission of light through the device and a decrease in the electric field amplitude required for the minimum speckle contrast value. We conclude by presenting a laser projected image of the 1951 USAF target with and without the LC device to demonstrate the visual improvement as a result of the speckle reduction.
format	article
author	David J. Hansford Yihan Jin Steve J. Elston Stephen M. Morris
author_facet	David J. Hansford Yihan Jin Steve J. Elston Stephen M. Morris
author_sort	David J. Hansford
title	Enhancing laser speckle reduction by decreasing the pitch of a chiral nematic liquid crystal diffuser
title_short	Enhancing laser speckle reduction by decreasing the pitch of a chiral nematic liquid crystal diffuser
title_full	Enhancing laser speckle reduction by decreasing the pitch of a chiral nematic liquid crystal diffuser
title_fullStr	Enhancing laser speckle reduction by decreasing the pitch of a chiral nematic liquid crystal diffuser
title_full_unstemmed	Enhancing laser speckle reduction by decreasing the pitch of a chiral nematic liquid crystal diffuser
title_sort	enhancing laser speckle reduction by decreasing the pitch of a chiral nematic liquid crystal diffuser
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/34f387eeb2034256a7ed9bd12d18bc45
work_keys_str_mv	AT davidjhansford enhancinglaserspecklereductionbydecreasingthepitchofachiralnematicliquidcrystaldiffuser AT yihanjin enhancinglaserspecklereductionbydecreasingthepitchofachiralnematicliquidcrystaldiffuser AT stevejelston enhancinglaserspecklereductionbydecreasingthepitchofachiralnematicliquidcrystaldiffuser AT stephenmmorris enhancinglaserspecklereductionbydecreasingthepitchofachiralnematicliquidcrystaldiffuser
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Enhancing laser speckle reduction by decreasing the pitch of a chiral nematic liquid crystal diffuser

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