Polarization effects in photonic liquid crystal fibers

Abstract

In this paper we present experimental results of polarization properties of photonic liquid crystal fibers, also with permanent anisotropy achieved by using photo-aligning layers within the micro holes. Single-polarization propagation has been demonstrated in three ways: either by application of an external electric field, by using special aligning layers or by using an anisotropic host—commercially available highly birefringent Blazephotonics photonic crystal fiber infiltrated with liquid crystals. The possibility of thermal birefringence tuning in photonic liquid crystal fibers by using low-birefringence liquid crystals is also presented.