Influence of cylindrical geometry and alignment layers on the growth process and selective reflection of blue phase domains

Abstract

In this work the influence of cylindrical shape and alignment layers on light reflection in Blue Phase Liquid Crystal (BPLC) is presented. For the first time, the process of BP domains growth in a capillary is presented. The cylindrical structure, its diameter and alignment layers change the orientations of cubic blue phase (BP) domains and affect their growth. By using temperature and external electric field the uniform structure was obtained. In this study the ability of switching between BP I and chiral phase in a capillary is also shown.

Photonic Liquid Crystal Fibers – 15 years of research activities at Warsaw University of Technology

“…The experimental results obtained are qualitatively consistent with performed simulations relating to modal analysis of BPLC-filled PCF, utilizing physical properties of PCF and refractive index of BPLC measured before [34]. However, it should be underlined that the size of microcapillaries in a glass matrix and applied alignment layers in PCF affect the orientation of the BP domains leading to a change in optical properties of a BPLC-filled photonic microstructure [32,35]. Moreover, the geometry of the sample for BPLC-filling is a crucial factor.…”

“…Moreover, the geometry of the sample for BPLC-filling is a crucial factor. The influence of alignment layers in cylindrical and rectangular geometries on BP domains can be found elsewhere in [35] and [36], respectively. To summarize, the BPLC offers new possibilities to develop advanced LC-based photonic devices.…”

The influence of orienting layers on blue phase liquid crystals in rectangular geometries

“…There are also very promising results for BPLC in cylindrical geometries where the obtained single crystals of BP with different selective Bragg reflection could be used as an equivalent of a Bayer filter in liquid crystal displays. The BPLC domains growth in a capillary has been observed recently [9]. For BPLC applications in optical devices, homogeneity and repeatability of the structure are important.…”

Spectral Properties of Photo-Aligned Photonic Crystal Fibers Infiltrated with Gold Nanoparticle-Doped Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals

“…Most of the published scientific reports devoted to PLCFs describe potential applications of PCFs infiltrated with nematic LCs [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. However, other types of LCs, such as chiral smectic C LCs (SmC*), with their ferroelectric properties (FLCs) [10,11], or the LC blue phase exhibiting a three-dimensional double-twist structure [12][13][14], have also been considered as suitable materials for infiltrating the PCF structure. The most significant factor of the prospective PLCF-based optical systems is their rapid electro-optical response.…”