Structured light refers to the light field tailored by various degrees of freedom including intensity, phase, and polarization states in both spatial and temporal domains, which may greatly vitalize the technologies in both optics, such as the next‐generation optical communication as well as subwavelength imaging and the materials science in both fabrication and characterization. The structured characteristics of the structure light need materials also with structured optical properties that can generate or manipulate structured light in a straightforward way, which can be well satisfied by liquid crystals, a soft mater that can self‐assemble into tunable ordered structures through external stimuli. This review summarizes the research progress of the liquid crystal‐based devices used in structured light generations and modulations, including the well‐established techniques in the market, like the spatial light modulator, q‐plate and the liquid crystal integrated optical metasurfaces. Especially, light‐matter interactions are discussed from the topological view of both the structured light and the liquid crystal structures. Such a perfect matching in topology makes the liquid crystal a promising star together with structured light in future optic and photonic technologies.

中文翻译：

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当结构光遇到液晶

结构光是指在空间和时间域上由不同自由度（包括强度、相位和偏振态）定制的光场，这可能极大地激发光学技术，例如下一代光通信和亚波长制造和表征方面的成像和材​​料科学。结构光的结构特性需要材料也具有结构光学特性，能够以直接的方式产生或操纵结构光，而液晶可以很好地满足这一点，液晶是一种软材料，可以通过外部刺激自组装成可调谐的有序结构。 。本文总结了用于结构光生成和调制的液晶器件的研究进展，包括市场上成熟的技术，如空间光调制器、q-plate 和液晶集成光学超表面。特别是，从结构光和液晶结构的拓扑角度讨论了光与物质的相互作用。这种拓扑结构的完美匹配使得液晶与结构光一起成为未来光学和光子技术中最有前途的明星。