Analysis of factors affecting delay accuracy of subfemtosecond liquid crystal variable retarders.

To obtain a wide range of high-precision time-delay controllable devices, a 100-µm-thick nematic liquid crystal (LC) cell was fabricated using the LC HTD028200-200. Factors influencing the delay calibration accuracy of LC variable retarders (LCVRs) were analyzed theoretically and experimentally. Subsequently, within the total voltage tuning range of 0-5 V, the LCVR had a delay of 4.977-97.404 fs, total delay range of 90 fs, tuning accuracy of ±0.216fs, and tuning resolution of 0.128 fs. This device will play an important role in spectral imaging.