Comparative study of liquid crystal variable retarder with rubbed polyimide and SiO₂ thin films by glancing angle deposition

A comparative study on the optical, morphological and laser-induced damage characteristics of rubbed polyimide, SiO 2 thin films by glancing angle deposition, and the corresponding liquid crystal (LC) retarders, is presented in this paper. SiO 2 inorganic thin films were prepared with a deposition angle of 45[Formula: see text], and traditional polyimide (PI) films were prepared by spin coating and rubbing. The experimental results indicate that the SiO 2 thin films have a good transmittance and resistance to laser damage. The transmittance of the SiO 2 thin films was above 92% in the wavelength range 400–1200 nm, and that of the corresponding LC retarder was approximately 90% in the wavelength range 800–1200 nm. The laser-induced damage threshold of the SiO 2 thin films reached 32.6 J/cm 2 , and that of the corresponding LC retarder was 1.84 J/cm 2 . These results are better than those of the PI alignment films. SiO 2 thin films have potential for use in the LC optical devices for laser applications.