Electrically switchable finite energy Airy beams generated by a liquid crystal cell with patterned electrode

A pair of electrically switchable finite energy Airy beams is generated by a liquid crystal (LC) cell, where one electrode is patterned by a photomask with a binary-phase pattern. Applying voltage across the LC cell, an index modulation is produced due to the liquid crystal molecules realignment, and the finite energy Airy beams can be generated or erased corresponding to the phase difference between the regions with and without electrode. The diffraction-free and transverse acceleration dynamics of this binary-phase element based finite energy Airy beams were experimentally verified, exhibiting excellent agreement with the theory.