The liquid crystal variable phase retarder (or phase shifter) is a transmissive element with an electrically tunable optical phase retardance. Optical retardation is often obtained with piezoelectric mirrors. However this option is not ideal if robust and compact design is necessary. This product offer an interesting alternative especially when working with polarized light (which is often the case when working with lasers). The Arcoptix phase retarder is a thin transmissive element causing minimal losses and can be simply placed within the optical path of your system. The more, its optical retardation is electrically tunable with the LC driver of ARCoptix (but it can also be driven with simple labor alternative power supply). Alternatively, it can also be used as optical valve (for a narrow wavelength range) or as polarization State controller (PSG). To summarize: Compact and robust device Transmissive element No moving parts Electrically Tunabl Needs polarized light Weak absorption in VIS Optical valve (with extra polarizers) Polarization state controller The liquid crystal variable phase shifter can be compared to a variable waveplate. By addressing it with the right voltage, it is able to provide any phase shift from zero to several times the light wavelength. They can be used throughout the visible and the near infrared region (400nm to 1800nm) without losses higher than 15%. Thanks to the use of thick substrate (scientific grade) and a special liquid crystal bend were are capable to offer robust equipment with minimal wavefront distortion and power absorption.