Active U-turn electrooptic switch formed in patterned holographic polymerdispersed liquid crystals

We have developed an active U-turn device by spatially patterning two identical holographic polymer dispersed liquid-crystal gratings. In the field-OFF state, the holographic planes of both gratings are slanted such that the angle of the diffraction beam is beyond the total internal reflection angle of the air-glass interface. The diffraction beam is "trapped" in the device until diffracted by the second slanted grating. In the field-ON state, the holographic grating is "erased" and the incident beam propagates directly through the sample. The index modulation is determined to be 0.059 + 0.006 at 1.55 (mu)m. Low switching voltage and sub-millisecond response times are reported.