Our Liquid Crystal Polarization Rotator continuously rotates a monochromatic, linearly polarized input beam. The fast axis of one retarder is oriented at 45 to the slow axis of the second. Linearly polarized input must be parallel to the quarter-wave retarder slow axis. Polarization rotation is achieved by electrically controlling the retardance of the Liquid Crystal Variable Retarder, eliminating any mechanical motion. The rotation angle is equal to one-half the retardance change from the Liquid Crystal Variable Retarder.
Response time depends upon the desired amount of rotation.
Small rotations have longer response times. Polarization purity is defined as the ratio of the rotated linear component to the orthogonal component. A selected rotation is very sensitive to applied voltage and operating temperature. These measurements are taken at room temperature for your specified wavelength. Standard Liquid Crystal Polarization Rotators are supplied without an input polarizer.