Nonlinear light propagation in photonic crystal fibers infiltrated with liquid crystalline materials

Kamil Orzechowski, Katarzyna A. Rutkowska - Faculty of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland.

Photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) are special class of microstructured fibers composed of the air-holes periodically distributed in the silica cladding [1]. In the context of development of novel photonic devices, great deal of scientific attention is paid to PCFs infiltrated with different substances. In particular, photonic liquid crystal fibers (PLCFs), obtained by the infiltration of the PCFs with liquid crystalline materials, possess unique (and highly-tunable) optical properties [2-4]. Due to a special combination of the constituent elements, PLCFs allow for an efficient control of the light-guiding dynamics, including switching between different mechanisms of propagation [4]. The latter can be achieved thanks to the high electro-, magneto- and thermo-optic response of liquid crystals (LCs), causing their refracting indices to be relatively easily modified either by temperature and/or other external physical fields [5]. Application of this specific substance as a guest material, allows for all-optically-induced changes of refractive index to be obtained due to the reorientational and/or thermal nonlinear effects taking place in LC [5]. By considering the PLCF as a matrix of waveguide channels, a discrete light propagation therein may be analyzed [6]. Introduction of nonlinear effects in our studies may result in spatial light localization (e.g. when discrete soliton is formed) [6] and thus in practical photonic devices e.g. for all-optical switching.

Reference:
[1] P. Russel, Science 299, 358 (2003).
[2] T.T. Larsen, A. Bjarklev, D.S. Hermann, J. Broeng, Opt. Expr. 11, 2589 (2003).
[3] T.R. Woliński et al., Opto-Electron. Rev., 13(2), 177 (2005).
[4] T.R. Woliński et al., Meas. Science Techn. 17, 985 (2006).
[5] I.C. Khoo, S.T. Wu, “Optics and Nonlinear Optics of Liquid Crystals”, World Scientific Publ. 1997.
[6] K.A. Brzdąkiewicz et al., Opto-Electron. Rev. 14, 287 (2006).