Fabrication of liquid-crystal retarders for solar polarimetry: A facile method

D. V.S. Phanindra; L. S. Greeshma; Della Vincent; Muhammed Raees; K. Nagaraju; Gurumurthy Hegde; P. Sreekumar; Manoj A.G. Namboothiry

doi:10.1007/s12036-025-10068-6

Fabrication of liquid-crystal retarders for solar polarimetry: A facile method

D. V.S. Phanindra^*
, L. S. Greeshma
, Della Vincent
, Muhammed Raees
, K. Nagaraju^*
, Gurumurthy Hegde^*
, P. Sreekumar
, Manoj A.G. Namboothiry^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Manipal Centre for Natural Sciences, Manipal

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

A high-precision polarimeter for simultaneous multi-line spectropolarimetric Sun observations is under development at Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Towards this end, we plan to use liquid-crystal retarders as the polarization modulators. A prototype liquid-crystal variable retarder (LCVR) is fabricated and characterized. A solution-processed method is adapted to fabricate the LCVR using commercially available E7 nematic liquid-crystal material. Thickness of the alignment layer of the LC retarder was optimized to achieve uniformity. The fabricated LCVR demonstrates spatial uniformity of retardance comparable to a commercial waveplate. The device is found to have a low-range of operational voltage of <20 V and a very short response time of <1 ms. Also, the device shows consistent operational stability.

Original language	English
Article number	43
Journal	Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy
Volume	46
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12036-025-10068-6
Publication status	Published - 12-2025

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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title = "Fabrication of liquid-crystal retarders for solar polarimetry: A facile method",

abstract = "A high-precision polarimeter for simultaneous multi-line spectropolarimetric Sun observations is under development at Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Towards this end, we plan to use liquid-crystal retarders as the polarization modulators. A prototype liquid-crystal variable retarder (LCVR) is fabricated and characterized. A solution-processed method is adapted to fabricate the LCVR using commercially available E7 nematic liquid-crystal material. Thickness of the alignment layer of the LC retarder was optimized to achieve uniformity. The fabricated LCVR demonstrates spatial uniformity of retardance comparable to a commercial waveplate. The device is found to have a low-range of operational voltage of <20 V and a very short response time of <1 ms. Also, the device shows consistent operational stability.",

author = "Phanindra, \{D. V.S.\} and Greeshma, \{L. S.\} and Della Vincent and Muhammed Raees and K. Nagaraju and Gurumurthy Hegde and P. Sreekumar and Namboothiry, \{Manoj A.G.\}",

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doi = "10.1007/s12036-025-10068-6",

language = "English",

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T1 - Fabrication of liquid-crystal retarders for solar polarimetry

T2 - A facile method

AU - Phanindra, D. V.S.

AU - Greeshma, L. S.

AU - Vincent, Della

AU - Raees, Muhammed

AU - Nagaraju, K.

AU - Hegde, Gurumurthy

AU - Sreekumar, P.

AU - Namboothiry, Manoj A.G.

PY - 2025/12

Y1 - 2025/12

N2 - A high-precision polarimeter for simultaneous multi-line spectropolarimetric Sun observations is under development at Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Towards this end, we plan to use liquid-crystal retarders as the polarization modulators. A prototype liquid-crystal variable retarder (LCVR) is fabricated and characterized. A solution-processed method is adapted to fabricate the LCVR using commercially available E7 nematic liquid-crystal material. Thickness of the alignment layer of the LC retarder was optimized to achieve uniformity. The fabricated LCVR demonstrates spatial uniformity of retardance comparable to a commercial waveplate. The device is found to have a low-range of operational voltage of <20 V and a very short response time of <1 ms. Also, the device shows consistent operational stability.

AB - A high-precision polarimeter for simultaneous multi-line spectropolarimetric Sun observations is under development at Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Towards this end, we plan to use liquid-crystal retarders as the polarization modulators. A prototype liquid-crystal variable retarder (LCVR) is fabricated and characterized. A solution-processed method is adapted to fabricate the LCVR using commercially available E7 nematic liquid-crystal material. Thickness of the alignment layer of the LC retarder was optimized to achieve uniformity. The fabricated LCVR demonstrates spatial uniformity of retardance comparable to a commercial waveplate. The device is found to have a low-range of operational voltage of <20 V and a very short response time of <1 ms. Also, the device shows consistent operational stability.

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JO - Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy

JF - Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy

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M1 - 43

ER -

Fabrication of liquid-crystal retarders for solar polarimetry: A facile method

Abstract

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