Electrically Controlled Nanostructured Metasurface Loaded with Liquid Crystal: Toward Multifunctional Photonic Switch

Abstract

Achieving an efficient spectral tuning in liquid‐crystal (LC)‐loaded active photonic metamaterials has so far remained a challenge due to strong surface anchoring of LC molecules. This paper reports on a novel approach in the development of hybrid metamaterials that enables to overcome this problem and engage for the first time in‐plane switching of liquid‐crystal molecules on the nanoscale. Combined with the usual volume switching, it unlocks the full potential of the liquid crystals as a functional component of active metamaterial hybrids operating at optical frequencies. As a result, the resonant response of an active metasurface can now be controlled both in terms of its magnitude and wavelength with the spectral tunability approaching the theoretical limit of 9%. This mechanism of two‐way active switching of the hybrid metamaterial is also confirmed theoretically by simulating the distribution of the LC director around the metamaterial fabric.