Abstract
This paper investigates the spectral properties of a one-dimensional photonic crystal (PC) containing an inhomogeneous polymer- dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) as a defect layer. Experimental results indicate that the voltage-induced reorientation of LC molecules between the light-scattering and transparent states in the PDLC enables the electrical tuning of the transmittance of defect-mode peaks in the spectrum of the PC/PDLC cell. Specifically, owing to the unique configuration of the spatial distribution of LC droplet sizes in the defect layer, a concept concerning the spatial switching in the wavelength of defect modes is proposed. As a result, the PC/PDLC hybrid cell is suggested as a potential element for realizing an electrically tunable and spatially switchable photonic bandgap device, which is polarizer-free and requires no alignment layers in the fabrication process.
Highlights
Photonic crystals (PCs) are known for their alluring property of the photonic bandgap (PBG) characterized by the periodic modulation of refractive index in designated structures [1,2]
This paper investigates the spectral properties of a onedimensional photonic crystal (PC) containing an inhomogeneous polymerdispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) as a defect layer
Experimental results indicate that the voltage-induced reorientation of liquid crystals (LCs) molecules between the light-scattering and transparent states in the PDLC enables the electrical tuning of the transmittance of defect-mode peaks in the spectrum of the PC/PDLC cell
Summary
Photonic crystals (PCs) are known for their alluring property of the photonic bandgap (PBG) characterized by the periodic modulation of refractive index in designated structures [1,2]. Being part of recent development of PC structures, a variety of hybrid designs incorporating liquid crystals (LCs) as defect layers in one-dimensional (1-D) PCs have been demonstrated extensively since 2002. In such structures, distinctive features on tunable spectral profiles of defect modes can be obtained in the PBGs based on the operation principle of various LC modes. Inserting an electrically-controlled-birefringence or twisted-nematic LC as the defect layer enables the electrical tunability in wavelength of defect modes in a 1-D PC/LC cell due to the change in optical path length with the applied electric field [5,6]. Compared with all known PC/LC hybrids proposed previously, the spectrum of the defect modes reported in this study is electrically tunable but spatially switchable owing to the unique configuration of spatial micro-size distribution of LC droplets formed in the defect layer
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