Orientation control of light propagation in liquid crystal waveguides
Keywords:
liquid crystals, waveguides, light controlAbstract
Methods to control the light beams in planar nematic liquid crystal elements have been considered. The two methods for realisation of the controlled wave-guide mode in a nematic layer of the liquid crystal have been demonstrated. The first method enables one to control the wave-guide light propagation mode in liquid crystal elements with the initial twist-planar orientation of the director. Such orientation makes it possible to realise the polarisation-sensitive mode of the radiation wave-guide propagation in the visible spectral range. The excitation and electric control conditions for the ave-guide mode in the case of polarised laser radiation have been analysed theoretically and tested experimentally. By the second method the wave-guide mode is due to the light-induced director reorientation in the liquid crystal doped with the methyl red dye. The method is based on processes of the anisotropic dye adsorption on one of the bounding surfaces in a liquid crystal cell and on the molecular orientation of the dye under the effect of polarised radiation. The dye molecules act as an orientant for the molecules of the liquid crystal, making it possible to form the local twist-structures whose refractive index for the specific light polarisation is different from that for the nonilluminated region.
References
- Papadimitriou GI, Papazoglou C, Pomportsis AS. Optical switching: switch fabrics, techniques, and architectures. Journal of Lightwave Technology. 2003;21(2):384–405. DOI: 10.1109/JLT.2003.808766.
- Kwok H-S, Naemura S, Ong HL, editors. Progress in liquid crystal science and technology: in honor of Shunsuke Kobayashi’s 80th birthday. Singapore: World Scientific; 2013. XII, 704 p. (Ong HL, editor. Series on liquid crystals; volume 4). DOI: 10.1142/8571.
- Chigrinov VG. Liquid crystal photonics: engineering tools, techniques and tables. New York: Nova Science Publishers; 2014. 204 p.
- Peccianti M, Dyadyusha A, Kaczmarek M, Assanto G. Tunable refraction and reflection of self-confined light beams. Nature Physics. 2006;2(11):737–742. DOI: 10.1038/nphys427.
- Piccardi A, Alberucci A, Assanto G. Nematicons and their electro-optic control: light localization and signal readdressing via reorientation in liquid crystals. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2013;14(10):19932–19950. DOI: 10.3390/ijms141019932.
- Maksimochkin AG, Pasechnik SV, Tsvetkov VA, Yakovlev DA, Maksimochkin GI, Chigrinov VG. Electrically controlled switching of light beams in the plane of liquid crystal layer. Optics Communications. 2007;270(2):273–279. DOI: 10.1016/j.optcom.2006.09.014.
- Melnikova ЕА, Tolstik AL, Rushnova II, Kabanova OS, Muravsky AA. Electrically controlled spatial-polarization switch based on patterned photoalignment of nematic liquid crystals. Applied Optics. 2016;55(23):6491–6495. DOI: 10.1364/AO.55.006491.
- Томилин МГ, Невская ГЕ. Фотоника жидких кристаллов. Санкт-Петербург: Издательство Политехнического университета; 2011. 741 c.
- Блинов ЛМ. Электро- и магнитооптика жидких кристаллов. Москва: Наука; 1978. 384 с.
- Mahilny UV, Stankevich AI, Trofimova AV, Muravsky AA, Murauski AA. Photosensitive polymers for liquid crystal alignment. Physics Procedia. 2015;73:121–125. DOI: 10.1016/j.phpro.2015.09.131.
- Кабанова ОС, Мельникова ЕА, Оленская ИИ, Толстик АЛ. Электрически управляемые волноводные жидкокристаллические элементы. Письма в Журнал технической физики. 2014;40(14):30–35. EDN: SNWFSX.
- Оленская ИИ, Кабанова ОС, Мельникова ЕА. Жидкокристаллические волноводные элементы с различной топологией модуляции границы раздела рефрактивных областей. Известия Самарского научного центра Российской академии наук. 2015;17(2):87–91. EDN: UHLMIB.
- Rushnova II, Kabanova OS, Melnikova EA, Tolstik AL. Integrated-optical nematic liquid crystal switches: designing and operation features. Nonlinear Phenomena in Complex Systems. 2018;21(3):206–219. EDN: YOEHFR.
- Rushnova II, Melnikova EA, Kabanova OS, Tolstik AL, Muravsky AA. Fringe field-tunable LC refractive index interface for in-plane beam steering applications. Applied Optics. 2020;59(34):10695–10699. DOI: 10.1364/AO.409688.
- Simoni F, Francescangeli O, Reznikov Y, Slussarenko S. Dye-doped liquid crystals as high-resolution recording media. Optics Letters. 1997;22(8):549–551. DOI: 10.1364/OL.22.000549.
- Slussarenko S, Melnikova E, Tolstik A. Dynamics of light-induced reorientation in planar cell filled with the azo-dye doped nematic liquid crystal. Nonlinear Phenomena in Complex Systems. 2024;27(4):335–340. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.14508724.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of the Belarusian State University. Physics
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The authors who are published in this journal agree to the following:
- The authors retain copyright on the work and provide the journal with the right of first publication of the work on condition of license Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial. 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
- The authors retain the right to enter into certain contractual agreements relating to the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work (e.g. post it on the institutional repository, publication in the book), with the reference to its original publication in this journal.
- The authors have the right to post their work on the Internet (e.g. on the institutional store or personal website) prior to and during the review process, conducted by the journal, as this may lead to a productive discussion and a large number of references to this work. (See The Effect of Open Access.)
