Influence of temperature and electrical fields on propagation properties of photonic liquid-crystal fibers

Abstract

The paper presents the latest experimental results on influence of temperature and external electrical fields on propagation properties of a photonic liquid-crystal fiber composed of a photonic crystal fiber infilled with a nematic liquid rystal characterized by either extremely low (of the order ~0.05) or relatively high (of the order ~0.3) material birefringence. The nematic liquid crystal was introduced into the micro holes of the photonic crystal fiber by the capillary effect. Due to anisotropic properties of the obtrained photonic liquid-crystal fiber, switching between different guiding mechanisms has also been demonstrated.