85.	Multiplex diffraction from functionalized polymer liquid crystals and polarization conversion, H. Ono, A. Emoto, N. Kawatsuki and T. Hasegawa, Optics Express, 11 (2003) 2379-2384.

Abstract

We report on polymer liquid crystals with periodically oriented mesogenic side chains and demonstrate that the resulting two-dimensional polarization gratings multiplex-diffract the laser beam and convert the polarization state at the same time. Two-dimensional diffraction patterns with various kinds of polarization states can be successfully generated by designing a combination of one-dimensional polarization gratings. This study is a considerable advance towards the realization of highly functionalized passive optical devices that can control both the beam propagation direction and the polarization state.