206 research outputs found
Dielectric multilayer waveguides for TE and TM mode matching
We analyse theoretically for the first time to our knowledge the perfect
phase matching of guided TE and TM modes with a multilayer waveguide composed
of linear isotropic dielectric materials. Alongside strict investigation into
dispersion relations for multilayer systems, we give an explicit qualitative
explanation for the phenomenon of mode matching on the basis of the standard
one-dimensional homogenization technique, and discuss the minimum number of
layers and the refractive index profile for the proposed device scheme. Direct
applications of the scheme include polarization-insensitive, intermodal
dispersion-free planar propagation, efficient fibre-to-planar waveguide
coupling and, potentially, mode filtering. As a self-sufficient result, we
present compact analytical expressions for the mode dispersion in a finite,
N-period, three-layer dielectric superlattice.Comment: 13 pages with figure
Geometrically-controlled twist transitions in nematic cells
We study geometrically-controlled twist transitions of a nematic confined
between a sinusoidal grating and a flat substrate. In these cells the
transition to the twisted state is driven by surface effects. We have
identified the mechanisms responsible for the transition analytically and used
exact numerical calculations to study the range of surface parameters where the
twist instability occurs. Close to these values the cell operates under minimal
external fields or temperature variations
Polarization resolved angular patterns in nematic liquid crystal cells
We study the angular structure of polarization of light transmitted through a
nematic liquid crystal (NLC) cell by theoretically analyzing the polarization
state as a function of the incidence angles. For a uniformly aligned NLC cell,
the matrix formalism and the orthogonality relations are used to
derive the analytical expressions for the transmission and reflection matrices.
The polarization resolved angular patterns in the two-dimensional projection
plane are characterized in terms of the polarization singularities: C points
(points of circular polarization) and L lines (lines of linear polarization).
In the case of linearly polarized plane waves incident on the homeotropically
aligned cell, we present the results of detailed theoretical analysis
describing the structure of the polarization singularities. We apply the theory
to compute the polarization patterns for various orientational structures in
the NLC cell and discuss the effects induced by the director orientation and
biaxiality.Comment: pdflatex, rextex4, 22 pages, 7 figures (jpeg
Determination of the director profile in a nematic cell from guided wave data: an inverse problem
Copyright © 2007 IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. This is the published version of an article published in New Journal of Physics Vol. 9, article 166. DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/9/6/166We consider an inverse problem: the estimation of the nematic director profile from experimental fully leaky guided mode data. This inverse problem is ill-posed in that small changes in the data may lead to large changes in the estimates of the director profile. The continuum equations for a nematic are exploited to stabilize the problem. We use experimental data drawn from a study of the dynamics of a hybrid-aligned nematic cell as an example
Large Coherence Area Thin-Film Photonic Stop-Band Lasers
We demonstrate that the shift of the stop band position with increasing
oblique angle in periodic structures results in a wide transverse exponential
field distribution corresponding to strong angular confinement of the
radiation. The beam expansion follows an effective diffusive equation depending
only upon the spectral mode width. In the presence of gain, the beam cross
section is limited only by the size of the gain area. As an example of an
active periodic photonic medium, we calculate and measure laser emission from a
dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal film
Nematic liquid crystal alignment on chemical patterns
Patterned Self-Assembled Monolayers (SAMs) promoting both homeotropic and planar degenerate alignment of 6CB and 9CB in their nematic phase, were created using microcontact printing of functionalised organothiols on gold films. The effects of a range of different pattern geometries and sizes were investigated, including stripes, circles and checkerboards. EvanescentWave Ellipsometry was used to study the orientation of the liquid crystal (LC) on these patterned surfaces during the isotropic-nematic phase transition. Pretransitional growth of a homeotropic layer was observed on 1 ¹m homeotropic aligning stripes, followed by a homeotropic mono-domain state prior to the
bulk phase transition. Accompanying Monte-Carlo simulations of LCs aligned on nano-patterned surfaces were also performed. These simulations also showed the presence of the homeotropic mono-domain state prior to the transition.</p
Direct Optical Quantification of Backflow in a 90° Twisted Nematic Cell
N. J. Smith, M. D. Tillin, and J. Roy Sambles, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 88, article 088301 (2002). "Copyright © 2002 by the American Physical Society."Optical guided mode observations of the transient director profile (optical tensor distribution) during the relaxation of a 90° twisted nematic cell directly reveals backflow. In the first 6 ms of the relaxation process, after a voltage across the cell is removed, the midplane tilt of the director increases, reaching a maximum value of 101° at 1.4 ms. This increase in midplane tilt is attributed to coupling between fluid flow (backflow) and director reorientation. A 270° twisted state of the opposite handedness to the 90° twisted state found at equilibrium is shown to exist during the backflow period. Good fits of theoretical models with experimentally determined time dependent director profiles yield the viscosity coefficients
Photoinduced 3D orientational order in side chain liquid crystalline azopolymers
We apply experimental technique based on the combination of methods dealing
with principal refractive indices and absorption coefficients to study the
photoinduced 3D orientational order in the films of liquid crystalline (LC)
azopolymers. The technique is used to identify 3D orientational configurations
of trans azobenzene chromophores and to characterize the degree of ordering in
terms of order parameters. We study two types of LC azopolymers which form
structures with preferred in-plane and out-of-plane alignment of
azochromophores, correspondingly. Using irradiation with the polarized light of
two different wavelengths we find that the kinetics of photoinduced anisotropy
can be dominated by either photo-reorientation or photoselection mechanisms
depending on the wavelength. We formulate the phenomenological model describing
the kinetics of photoinduced anisotropy in terms of the isomer concentrations
and the order parameter tensor. We present the numerical results for absorption
coefficients that are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.
The model is also used to interpret the effect of changing the mechanism with
the wavelength of the pumping light.Comment: uses revtex4 28 pages, 10 figure
Optically guided mode study of nematic liquid crystal alignment on a zero-order grating
B. T. Hallam and J. Roy Sambles, Physical Review E, Vol. 61, pp. 6699-6704 (2000). "Copyright © 2000 by the American Physical Society."The characterization of a liquid crystal cell, which comprises one zero-order (that is, at the wavelength of study it is nondiffractive) diffraction grating and one rubbed polyimide-coated substrate, has been performed using an optically guided mode technique. The cell is filled with nematic liquid crystal E7 (manufactured and sold by Merck, Poole, U.K.). The excitation of fully leaky guided modes within the liquid crystal layer has allowed the optical director profile to be quantified under the application of weak in-plane electric fields. The fitting of angle-dependent optical data to multilayer optical theory yields the accurate twist profile of the liquid crystal for different field strengths. Comparisons with profiles predicted from elastic continuum theory, assuming a Rapini-Papoular-type anchoring at the surfaces, allow both the azimuthal anchoring strength at each surface and the twist elastic constant of the bulk to be accurately determined. Repeating these measurements as a function of temperature allows the surface and bulk order parameters of the grating-aligned liquid crystal to be deduced
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