Photonic eigenmodes and transmittance of finite-length 1D cholesteric liquid crystal resonators

Cholesteric liquid crystals exhibit a periodic helical structure that partially reflects light with wavelengths comparable to the period of the structure, thus performing as a one-dimensional photonic crystal. Here, we demonstrate a combined experimental and numerical study of light transmittance sp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2023-10, Vol.13 (1), p.16868-16868, Article 16868
Main Authors: Zaplotnik, Jaka, Mur, Urban, Malkar, Deepshika, Ranjkesh, Amid, Muševič, Igor, Ravnik, Miha
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/301/923/919
639/624
639/624/399/1022
639/624/399/1097
639/624/399/919
639/766/400/1113
Crystals
Geometry
Humanities and Social Sciences
Lasers
Light
Localization
multidisciplinary
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Transmittance
Wavelengths
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Summary:Cholesteric liquid crystals exhibit a periodic helical structure that partially reflects light with wavelengths comparable to the period of the structure, thus performing as a one-dimensional photonic crystal. Here, we demonstrate a combined experimental and numerical study of light transmittance spectra of finite-length helical structure of cholesteric liquid crystals, as affected by the main system and material parameters, as well as the corresponding eigenmodes and frequency eigenspectra with their Q -factors. Specifically, we have measured and simulated transmittance spectra of samples with different thicknesses, birefringences and for various incident light polarisation configurations as well as quantified the role of refractive index dispersion and the divergence of the incident light beam on transmittance spectra. We identify the relation between transmittance spectra and the eigenfrequencies of the photonic eigenmodes. Furthermore, we present and visualize the geometry of these eigenmodes and corresponding Q -factors. More generally, this work systematically studies the properties of light propagation in a one-dimensional helical cholesteric liquid crystal birefringent profile, which is known to be of interest for the design of micro-lasers and other soft matter photonic devices.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-023-43912-2