Grating coupled liquid crystal waveguides using nematics and smectics

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Abstract
The optical properties of grating coupled waveguides are theoretically modeled and practically demonstrated using nematic and smectic liquid crystals as thin (0.7 μm) waveguide layers. Voltage induced reorientation of the liquid crystal is shown to lead to large changes in reflectivity and transmissivity when the angle of incidence initially corresponds to a guided mode resonance. Time resolved measurements using these thin cells show that the switching time for the nematic phase can be faster than the smectic phase.