Photonic crystal fibers infiltrated with ferroelectric liquid crystals

Abstract

In the letter we present preliminary results of research on thermal and electrical tunability of photonic crystal fibers (PCF) infiltrated with ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) molecules. From this combination we expect new spectral properties to be observed, mainly due to the fast switching time of FLC molecules that can lead to the design of a new kind of optical filters. We have also obtained promising results about the spectral properties of photonic ferroelectric liquid crystal fibers (PFLCF), as well as orientation of FLC molecules inside PCF microholes. © 2010 Photonics Society of Poland.