Tunable holography with independent transflective information channels enabled by interleaved soft materials

Abstract

Holography is promising to fully record and reconstruct various fundamental properties of light. However, the simultaneous realization of multifunctional holographic channels, prompt tunability and broadband working spectrum for holography remains challenging. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a transflective holography scheme based on the interleaved soft materials of achiral and chiral liquid crystals (LCs). The desired phase profile is programmed into the tailored surface alignment of the achiral and chiral LCs by photopatterning, while the coexistence of such soft materials is configured by a micro-regional patterned polymer template. Correspondingly, a pair of independent holographic images is achieved along the transmission and reflection channels, which is also characterized by the distinctive response to the polarization of incidence. Benefitting from the excellent electrical responsiveness, the transmission holography can be conveniently tuned among a large spectral range under a mild voltage, and meanwhile the broadband working spectrum of reflection holography is well maintained. We expect this work to enrich the functionalities of LC holography and inspire more advances for the higher integration level, greater information capacity of holography.