Compact deterministic liquid-crystal polarization controller with single-measurement direct control
Abstract
Polarization controllers (PCs) and their control algorithms are critical for compensating environmental disturbances and maintaining signal fidelity in polarization-sensitive photonic systems. However, existing controllers often involve trade-offs among key performance metrics,while associated control algorithms either converge inefficiently or require multiple state-of-polarization (SOP) measurements. This work presents a compact deterministic liquid-crystal polarization controller (LC-PC) with balanced overall performance, featuring low insertion loss (<1 dB), low driving voltage (<6 V), and full Poincaré sphere coverage. The device exhibits highly predictable and repeatable polarization modulation characterized by SOP-independent trajectory normal vectors, enabling a single-measurement direct-calculation algorithm using pre-characterized rotation axes and voltage-to-rotation relationships, with degree-level polarization control accuracy. The combination of this compact deterministic LC-PC and its efficient control scheme provides a practical solution for polarization management in quantum key distribution, optical sensing, and advanced photonic systems.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{liu2026compact,
title = {{Compact deterministic liquid-crystal polarization controller with single-measurement direct control}},
author = {Ren-De Liu and Jie Wang and Dong-Dong Li and Xian-Chang Du and Dao-Zhong Xiao and Shuai Li and Chuan-Yang Ding and Yan-Lin Tang and Yang Li and Sheng-Kai Liao and Teng-Yun Chen and Shi-Biao Tang},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2607.20987},
eprint = {2607.20987},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.20987},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Compact deterministic liquid-crystal polarization controller with single-measurement direct control
AU - Ren-De Liu
AU - Jie Wang
AU - Dong-Dong Li
AU - Xian-Chang Du
AU - Dao-Zhong Xiao
AU - Shuai Li
AU - Chuan-Yang Ding
AU - Yan-Lin Tang
AU - Yang Li
AU - Sheng-Kai Liao
AU - Teng-Yun Chen
AU - Shi-Biao Tang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2607.20987
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.20987
AB - Polarization controllers (PCs) and their control algorithms are critical for compensating environmental disturbances and maintaining signal fidelity in polarization-sensitive photonic systems. However, existing controllers often involve trade-offs among key performance metrics,while associated control algorithms either converge inefficiently or require multiple state-of-polarization (SOP) measurements. This work presents a compact deterministic liquid-crystal polarization controller (LC-PC) with balanced overall performance, featuring low insertion loss (<1 dB), low driving voltage (<6 V), and full Poincaré sphere coverage. The device exhibits highly predictable and repeatable polarization modulation characterized by SOP-independent trajectory normal vectors, enabling a single-measurement direct-calculation algorithm using pre-characterized rotation axes and voltage-to-rotation relationships, with degree-level polarization control accuracy. The combination of this compact deterministic LC-PC and its efficient control scheme provides a practical solution for polarization management in quantum key distribution, optical sensing, and advanced photonic systems.
ER -