Electrically controlled nanostructured metasurface loaded with liquid crystal : toward multifunctional photonic switch

• Main Authors: Buchnev, Oleksandr, Podoliak, Nina, Kaczmarek, Malgosia, Zheludev, Nikolay I., Fedotov, Vassili A.
• Other Authors: School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Optics, optoelectronics, photonics
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/106653; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/25014
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Achieving an efficient spectral tuning in liquid-crystal (LC)-loaded active photonic metamaterials has so far remained a challenge due to strong surface anchoring of LC molecules. This paper reports on a novel approach in the development of hybrid metamaterials that enables to overcome this problem and engage for the first time in-plane switching of liquid-crystal molecules on the nanoscale. Combined with the usual volume switching, it unlocks the full potential of the liquid crystals as a functional component of active metamaterial hybrids operating at optical frequencies. As a result, the resonant response of an active metasurface can now be controlled both in terms of its magnitude and wavelength with the spectral tunability approaching the theoretical limit of 9%. This mechanism of two-way active switching of the hybrid metamaterial is also confirmed theoretically by simulating the distribution of the LC director around the metamaterial fabric.