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Extensive research has been devoted to spiral phase contrast imaging because of its notable capacity to enhance the edges of both phase and amplitude objects. We demonstrate a setup using ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) fork grating (FG) to enable switchable spiral phase contrast imaging within sub-milli-second responses. This system enables the electrical toggling between images featuring edge enhancement and those without it. The specially designed FLC FG generates a vortex beam while in a diffractive state and transmits a Gaussian beam when in a transmissive state. Using a two-step photo-alignment method, the produced FLC FG exhibits exceptional efficiency at approximately 35% and impressively rapid switching at around 307 μs. By introducing this method, we expand the potential applications of spiral phase contrast imaging, particularly in fields such as bio-sensing and photonics.
Guo et al. (2024) studied this question.