Direct birefringence and transmission modulation via dynamic alignment of P3HT nanofibers in an advanced opto-fluidic component

Poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) nanofibers are semiconducting high-aspect ratio nanostructures with anisotropic absorption and birefringence properties found at different regions of the optical spectrum. In addition, P3HT nanofibers possess an ability to be aligned by an external electric field, while...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optical materials express 2017-01, Vol.7 (1), p.52-61
Main Authors: Lobov, Gleb S., Marinins, Aleksandrs, Etcheverry, Sebastián, Zhao, Yichen, Vasileva, Elena, Sugunan, Abhilash, Laurell, Fredrik, Thylén, Lars, Wosinski, Lech, Östling, Mikael, Toprak, Muhammet S., Popov, Sergei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorption spectroscopy
Alignment
Anisotropic absorption
Aspect ratio
Birefringence
Birefringence property
Devices
Electric fields
External electric field
Fiber-based device
High aspect ratio nano-structures
Light modulation
Light transmission
Liquid crystal materials
Liquid crystals
Modulation
Nanofibers
Nanostructure
Optical fiber fabrication
Optical fibers
Order disorder
Poly-3-hexylthiophene
Transmission modulation
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Summary:Poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) nanofibers are semiconducting high-aspect ratio nanostructures with anisotropic absorption and birefringence properties found at different regions of the optical spectrum. In addition, P3HT nanofibers possess an ability to be aligned by an external electric field, while being dispersed in a liquid. In this manuscript we show that such collective ordering of nanofibers, similar to liquid crystal material, significantly changes the properties of transmitted light. With a specially fabricated opto-fluidic component, we monitored the phase and transmission modulation of light propagating through the solution of P3HT nanofibers, being placed in the electric field with strength up to 0.1 V/[mu]m. This report describes a technique for light modulation, which can be implemented in optical fiber-based devices or on-chip integrated components.
ISSN:2159-3930
2159-3930
DOI:10.1364/OME.7.000052