A reconfigurable arbitrary retarder array as complex structured matter

Chao He (), Binguo Chen, Zipei Song, Zimo Zhao, Yifei Ma, Honghui He (), Lin Luo (), Tade Marozsak, An Aloysius Wang, Rui Xu, Peixiang Huang, Jiawen Li, Xuke Qiu, Yunqi Zhang, Bangshan Sun, Jiahe Cui, Yuxi Cai, Yun Zhang, Andong Wang, Mohan Wang, Patrick Salter, Julian AJ Fells, Ben Dai, Shaoxiong Liu, Limei Guo, Yonghong He, Hui Ma, Daniel J. Royston, Steve J. Elston, Qiwen Zhan, Chengwei Qiu, Stephen M. Morris, Martin J. Booth and Andrew Forbes
Additional contact information
Chao He: Parks Road
Binguo Chen: Tsinghua University
Zipei Song: Parks Road
Zimo Zhao: Parks Road
Yifei Ma: Parks Road
Honghui He: Tsinghua University
Lin Luo: Peking University
Tade Marozsak: Parks Road
An Aloysius Wang: Parks Road
Rui Xu: Peking University
Peixiang Huang: Peking University
Jiawen Li: Tsinghua University
Xuke Qiu: Parks Road
Yunqi Zhang: Parks Road
Bangshan Sun: Parks Road
Jiahe Cui: Parks Road
Yuxi Cai: Parks Road
Yun Zhang: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Andong Wang: Parks Road
Mohan Wang: Parks Road
Patrick Salter: Parks Road
Julian AJ Fells: Parks Road
Ben Dai: The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shaoxiong Liu: Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Shenzhen Hospital
Limei Guo: Peking University Third Hospital
Yonghong He: Tsinghua University
Hui Ma: Tsinghua University
Daniel J. Royston: University of Oxford
Steve J. Elston: Parks Road
Qiwen Zhan: University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
Chengwei Qiu: National University of Singapore
Stephen M. Morris: Parks Road
Martin J. Booth: Parks Road
Andrew Forbes: Private Bag 3

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Tuneable retarder arrays, such as spatially patterned liquid crystal devices, have given rise to impressive photonic functionality, fuelling diverse applications ranging from microscopy and holography to encryption and communications. Presently these solutions are limited by the controllable degrees of freedom of structured matter, hindering applications that demand photonic systems with high flexibility and reconfigurable topologies. Here we demonstrate a compound modulator that implements a synthetic tuneable arbitrary retarder array as virtual pixels derived by cascading low functionality tuneable devices, realising full dynamic control of its arbitrary elliptical axis geometry, retardance value, and induced phase. Our approach offers unprecedented functionality that is user-defined and possesses high flexibility, allowing our modulator to act as a new beam generator, analyser, and corrector, opening an exciting path to tuneable topologies of light and matter.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59846-4

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