56‐2: Distinguished Student Paper: Polarization‐Independent liquid‐Crystal‐Based Refractive Index Sensor.

A polarization independent refractive index (RI) sensor with a RI sensitivity of 50 nm/RIU is demonstrated. The proposed RI sensor simply consists of a liquid crystal (LC) polymeric polarization grating film and one glass substrate. The wavelength shift over the refractive index of surrounding medium is investigated through anisotropic rigorous coupled‐wave analysis. Such a LC‐based polarization independent RI sensor not only enables the usage of an unpolarized light source but also manifests a high sensitivity, offering great potential for the integration with display systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]