Electrically tunable infrared filter based on a cascaded liquid-crystal Fabry-Perot for spectral imaging detection.

An electrically tunable infrared (IR) filter based on a key cascaded liquid-crystal Fabry-Perot (C-LC-FP) working in the wavelength range of 3-5 mu m is presented. The C-LC-FP is constructed by closely stacking two FP microcavities with different depths of 12 and 15 mu m and fully filled by nematic LC materials. Through continuous wavelength selection of both microcavities, radiation with a high transmittance and narrow bandwidth can pass through the filter. According to the electrically controlled birefringence characteristics of nematic LC molecules, the transmission spectrum can be shifted through applying a dual voltage signal over the C-LC-FP. Compared with common LC-FPs with a single microcavity, the C-LC-FP demonstrates better transmittance peak morphology and spectral selection performance. To be more specific, the number and the shifted scope of the IR transmission peak can be decreased and widened, respectively. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America