Liquid crystal cladded metallo-dielectric and all-dielectric frequency selective surfaces for broadband tunable optical filters and planar negative index optics

Abstract

We demonstrate how liquid crystal cladded metallo-dielectric and all-dielectric frequency selective surfaces (FSS) can perform as broadband tunable optical filters and planar negative index optical materials. Structures are designed using a genetic algorithm technique that takes into account the specifics of nanofabrication techniques to maximize the effective optical material response and minimize losses as the birefringent nematic liquid crystal (NLC) overlayer is tuned.