@article {4635,
	title = {Variable phase retarder made of a dielectric elastomer actuator.},
	journal = {Optics Letters},
	volume = {34},
	year = {2009},
	month = {2009 Mar 15},
	pages = {803-5},
	abstract = {<p>We present a polymeric optical phase retarder that is electrically tunable by a dielectric elastomer actuator. The soft material device affords a large tuning range (14pi at lambda=488 nm) combined with high accuracy in optical path length and low drift rate (8.3 nm/min). Furthermore, the phase retarder is not sensitive to polarization, introduces a wavefront distortion141 kW/cm2). We show the dynamics for periodic phase modulation and demonstrate a simple drive technique for fast phase stepping. The polymer-based device is inexpensive, easy to fabricate, and its design can be adapted to specific applications.</p>
},
	issn = {0146-9592},
	author = {Beck, Markus and Fiolka, Reto and Stemmer, Andreas}
}
