Abstract
The present paper discusses polarization phenomena occurring in microstructrured liquid crystal fibers and in particular solid-core photonic crystal fibers infiltrated with liquid crystals. We report on the latest experimental polarization characteristics of microstructured photonic crystal fibers filled with prototype nematic liquid crystal guest materials characterized by either extremely low (of the order ∼ 0.05) or medium (of the order ∼ 0.2) material birefringence. Due to anisotropic properties of the microstructrured liquid crystal fibers switching between different guiding mechanisms as well as electrically and temperature-induced tuning of light propagation have been demonstrated. These preliminary results hold great potential for both fiber-optic sensing and in-fiber polarization mode dispersion control and compensation.
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