FERROELECTRIC LIQUID CRYSTAL FIBER WAVEGUIDE

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Abstract
In this paper, we present the results on the fabrication and characterization of the FLC-in-fiber waveguides, in which hollow core optical fibers with typical core diameters of 2 to 10 μms are filled with FLCs. Proper alignment of the FLC inside the fiber core, allows for the electro-optic modulation of the liquid crystal refractive index resulting in a new class of devices for optical communication and sensors. We describe the fabrication process of the FLC-in-fiber waveguides. The propagation loss is measured to be 3.5 dB/cm. Linear modulation of the tilt angle up to 10 degrees is obtained by applying the electric fields up to 5 volts/μm. And a 10/24 μsecs rise/fall time is demonstrated with an E-field of 1 volt/μm applied across a fiber of 1 cm in length.