Relationship between optical and electrical properties of liquid-crystal optical devices

It is shown that the relationship between capacitance and refractive index is linear for liquid-crystal optical devices, such as liquid-crystal Fabry-Perot interferometer filters and liquid-crystal microprism arrays. A linearizing circuit that compensates for the nonlinear properties of liquid-crystal optical devices is made, in which capacitance instead of applied voltage is monitored. It can also directly display the value of the transmission peak wavelength or the deflection angle. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America