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Direct optical observation of disclination effects in active photonic devices

Direct optical observation of disclination effects in active photonic devices
Direct optical observation of disclination effects in active photonic devices
Liquid crystals (LC) are increasingly finding uses in fields outside of display optics. Their strong electro-optic response can be used in applications such as tunable photonic devices, for example, to make tunable planar Bragg gratings. While Bragg gratings are well known as fixed wavelength reflectors, the application of a liquid crystal can convert these fixed reflectors into tunable filter elements, with potential applications in telecommunications networks [1]. We have previously demonstrated such devices, and have shown the capability to tune the Bragg peak through adjacent DWDM channels [2]. These devices contained channel waveguides and gratings defined by laser writing techniques. The Bragg peak is tuned by applying an electric field across the device, which causes a change in the LC refractive index, which modifies the modal index of an exposed Bragg grating. The tuning curves for these devices exhibit hysteresis depending on whether the field amplitude is being increased or decreased. In this work we report investigation of the liquid crystal behaviour by direct observation of polarization state and physical changes in the LC. We will also highlight new interaction geometries and show that careful control of modal interactions can be used to optimize the available tuning performance.
Snow, B.D.
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Adikan, F.R.M.
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Gates, J.C.
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Gawith, C.B.E.
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Dyadyusha, A.
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Major, Huw E.
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Kaczmarek, M.
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Smith, P.G.R.
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Snow, B.D.
52b453fa-ff5c-49dd-81c9-d43eafab1ea8
Adikan, F.R.M.
69a2f4bb-520c-40a7-861d-0532cffffc40
Gates, J.C.
b71e31a1-8caa-477e-8556-b64f6cae0dc2
Gawith, C.B.E.
926665c0-84c7-4a1d-ae19-ee6d7d14c43e
Dyadyusha, A.
2d1d75d4-60f0-4437-8771-0d0b9a3c7931
Major, Huw E.
b6df0066-f28b-498f-b606-bf3f4421fa94
Kaczmarek, M.
408ec59b-8dba-41c1-89d0-af846d1bf327
Smith, P.G.R.
8979668a-8b7a-4838-9a74-1a7cfc6665f6

Snow, B.D., Adikan, F.R.M., Gates, J.C., Gawith, C.B.E., Dyadyusha, A., Major, Huw E., Kaczmarek, M. and Smith, P.G.R. (2008) Direct optical observation of disclination effects in active photonic devices. 2nd International Workshop on Liquid Crystals for Photonics (LCP 2008), Cambridge, UK. 21 - 23 Jul 2008. 2 pp .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

Liquid crystals (LC) are increasingly finding uses in fields outside of display optics. Their strong electro-optic response can be used in applications such as tunable photonic devices, for example, to make tunable planar Bragg gratings. While Bragg gratings are well known as fixed wavelength reflectors, the application of a liquid crystal can convert these fixed reflectors into tunable filter elements, with potential applications in telecommunications networks [1]. We have previously demonstrated such devices, and have shown the capability to tune the Bragg peak through adjacent DWDM channels [2]. These devices contained channel waveguides and gratings defined by laser writing techniques. The Bragg peak is tuned by applying an electric field across the device, which causes a change in the LC refractive index, which modifies the modal index of an exposed Bragg grating. The tuning curves for these devices exhibit hysteresis depending on whether the field amplitude is being increased or decreased. In this work we report investigation of the liquid crystal behaviour by direct observation of polarization state and physical changes in the LC. We will also highlight new interaction geometries and show that careful control of modal interactions can be used to optimize the available tuning performance.

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e-pub ahead of print date: July 2008
Venue - Dates: 2nd International Workshop on Liquid Crystals for Photonics (LCP 2008), Cambridge, UK, 2008-07-21 - 2008-07-23

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 63331
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/63331
PURE UUID: 95d8ee59-5207-45ba-b8fd-86650c898144
ORCID for J.C. Gates: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8671-5987
ORCID for C.B.E. Gawith: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3502-3558
ORCID for P.G.R. Smith: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0319-718X

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Date deposited: 17 Oct 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:18

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Contributors

Author: B.D. Snow
Author: F.R.M. Adikan
Author: J.C. Gates ORCID iD
Author: C.B.E. Gawith ORCID iD
Author: A. Dyadyusha
Author: Huw E. Major
Author: M. Kaczmarek
Author: P.G.R. Smith ORCID iD

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