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Crystals
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Liquid Crystal Optical Device
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Liquid Crystal Optical Device

A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Liquid Crystals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 May 2019) | Viewed by 38895

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Leszek R. Jaroszewicz

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Applied Physics, Military University of Technology, 00-908 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: photonics technology application for sensors devices including: hybrid liquid crystal waveguide transducers, technologies of advanced fiber optics as well as photonic crystal fiber elements
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Noureddine Bennis

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Military University of Technology, Institute of Applied Physics, Warsaw, Poland

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Liquid crystals (LCs) are one of the key materials used in light beam manipulation, as their pronounced anisotropy and fluidity allow their refractive index to be tuned by small applied voltages. One remarkable feature of these materials is their high versatility. These materials attract scientists across disciplines such as chemistry, physics, materials science and engineering.
These kinds of materials have been used as active elements in different electro-optical devices in the visible and near IR range. By supplying a relatively low voltage, the LC molecules, individually and collectively anisotropic, are reoriented and the effective refractive index seen by an electromagnetic wave varies. This remarkable behavior spans the entire spectrum from visible to THz and microwave frequencies.
Topics of interest:
• Advances in development of new novel liquid crystalline materials and phenomena
• Biophotonic applications of liquid crystalline materials
• Emerging LCD technologies, such as polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystals,
• Real-time 3D holographic displays
• Holographic microscopy systems using liquid crystals
• Applications of liquid crystals in telecommunications
• Liquid crystal technology for adaptive optics
• Active meta-materials and meta-surfaces
• Recent advances in nematic liquid crystal nonlinear optics
• Thermography using liquid crystals
• Photoresponsive and photoalignable materials

Prof. Leszek R. Jaroszewicz
Dr. Noureddine Bennis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Crystals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Liquid crystal devices
  • Holography
  • Microscopy
  • Wave-front sensing
  • Active meta-materials
  • Nonlinear optics

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Editorial

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2 pages, 160 KiB  
Editorial
Liquid Crystal Optical Devices
by Leszek R. Jaroszewicz and Noureddine Bennis
Crystals 2019, 9(10), 523; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst9100523 - 12 Oct 2019
Viewed by 2008
Abstract
It has been approximately 125 years since the Austrian scientist Friedrich Reinitzer in 1888 observed the curious behavior of the double melting points of cholesterol benzoate, a discovery that today is widely recognized as liquid crystal science [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Liquid Crystal Optical Device)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review

12 pages, 3563 KiB  
Article
Monochromatic Depolarizer Based on Liquid Crystal
by Paweł Marć, Noureddine Bennis, Anna Spadło, Aleksandra Kalbarczyk, Rafał Węgłowski, Katarzyna Garbat and Leszek R. Jaroszewicz
Crystals 2019, 9(8), 387; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst9080387 - 28 Jul 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3190
Abstract
Polarization is a very useful parameter of a light beam in many optical measurements. Improvement of holographic systems requires optical elements which need a diffused and depolarized light beam. This paper describes a simple monochromatic depolarizer based on a pure vertically aligned liquid [...] Read more.
Polarization is a very useful parameter of a light beam in many optical measurements. Improvement of holographic systems requires optical elements which need a diffused and depolarized light beam. This paper describes a simple monochromatic depolarizer based on a pure vertically aligned liquid crystal without pretilt. In this work we present an extended description of depolarizer by analyzing its electro-optic properties measured in spatial and time domains with the use of crossed polarizers and polarimetric configurations. Crossed polarizers set-up provides information on spatial and temporal changes of microscopic textures while polarimetric measurement allows to measure voltage and time dependence of degree of polarization. Three different thicknesses, i.e., 5 μm, 10 μm and 15 μm have been manufactured in order to analyze another degree of freedom for this type of depolarizer device based on a liquid crystals’ material. Consideration of the light scattering capability of the cell is reported. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Liquid Crystal Optical Device)
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14 pages, 8166 KiB  
Article
Research on Optical Properties of Tapered Optical Fibers with Liquid Crystal Cladding Doped with Gold Nanoparticles
by Joanna E. Moś, Joanna Korec, Karol A. Stasiewicz, Bartłomiej Jankiewicz, Bartosz Bartosewicz and Leszek R. Jaroszewicz
Crystals 2019, 9(6), 306; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst9060306 - 14 Jun 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4562
Abstract
This paper presents results obtained for biconical tapered fibers surrounded/immersed in liquid crystal mixtures. The phenomenon of light propagating in the whole structure of a tapered fiber allows the creation of a sensor where the tapered region represents a core whereas the surrounding [...] Read more.
This paper presents results obtained for biconical tapered fibers surrounded/immersed in liquid crystal mixtures. The phenomenon of light propagating in the whole structure of a tapered fiber allows the creation of a sensor where the tapered region represents a core whereas the surrounding medium becomes a cladding. Created devices are very sensitive to changing refractive index value in a surrounding medium caused by modifying external environmental parameters like temperature, electric or magnetic field. For this reason, the properties of materials used as cladding should be easily modified. In this investigation, cells have been filled with two different nematic liquid crystals given as 1550* and 6CHBT (4-(trans-4-n-hexylcyclohexyl) isothiocyanatobenzoate), as well as with the same mixtures doped with 0.1 wt% gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Optical spectrum analysis for the wavelength range of 550–1150 nm and time-courses performed for a wavelength of 846 nm at the temperature range of T = 25–40 °C were provided. For all investigations, a steering voltage in the range of 0–200 V which allows establishing the dopes’ influence on transmitted power and time response at different temperatures was applied. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Liquid Crystal Optical Device)
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8 pages, 2705 KiB  
Article
Multifrequency Driven Nematics
by Noureddine Bennis, Jakub Herman, Aleksandra Kalbarczyk, Przemysław Kula and Leszek R. Jaroszewicz
Crystals 2019, 9(5), 275; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst9050275 - 27 May 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2660
Abstract
Liquid crystals act on the amplitude and the phase of a wave front under applied electric fields. Ordinary LCs are known as field induced birefringence, thus both phase and amplitude modulation strongly depend on the voltage controllable molecular tilt. In this work we [...] Read more.
Liquid crystals act on the amplitude and the phase of a wave front under applied electric fields. Ordinary LCs are known as field induced birefringence, thus both phase and amplitude modulation strongly depend on the voltage controllable molecular tilt. In this work we present electrooptical properties of novel liquid crystal (LC) mixture with frequency tunable capabilities from 100Hz to 10 KHz at constant applied voltage. The frequency tunability of presented mixtures shown here came from composition of three different families of rodlike liquid crystals. Dielectric measurements are reported for the compounds constituting frequency-controlled birefringence liquid crystal. Characterization protocols allowing the optimum classification of different components of this mixture, paying attention to all relevant parameters such as anisotropic polarizability, dielectric anisotropy, and dipole moment are presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Liquid Crystal Optical Device)
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7 pages, 4936 KiB  
Article
Integrated Mach–Zehnder Interferometer Based on Liquid Crystal Evanescent Field Tuning
by Manuel Caño-García, David Poudereux, Fernando J. Gordo, Morten A. Geday, José M. Otón and Xabier Quintana
Crystals 2019, 9(5), 225; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst9050225 - 26 Apr 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3340
Abstract
In this work, the performance of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer manufactured in silicon nitride with a liquid crystal cladding is studied. The device consists of two multi-mode interference couplers linked by two rectangular waveguides, the cladding of one of which is a liquid crystal. [...] Read more.
In this work, the performance of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer manufactured in silicon nitride with a liquid crystal cladding is studied. The device consists of two multi-mode interference couplers linked by two rectangular waveguides, the cladding of one of which is a liquid crystal. The structure demonstrates the potential of using liquid crystals as tunable cladding material in simple waveguides as well as in more complex coupling or modulating structures. Liquid crystal cladding permits a local fine-tuning of the effective refractive index of the waveguide, avoiding coarse global temperature control. The study is realized in the visible region (632.8 nm), for its intrinsic interest region in (bio-)sensing or metrology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Liquid Crystal Optical Device)
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Review

Jump to: Editorial, Research

24 pages, 9610 KiB  
Review
Liquid Crystal Beam Steering Devices: Principles, Recent Advances, and Future Developments
by Ziqian He, Fangwang Gou, Ran Chen, Kun Yin, Tao Zhan and Shin-Tson Wu
Crystals 2019, 9(6), 292; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst9060292 - 05 Jun 2019
Cited by 105 | Viewed by 11984
Abstract
Continuous, wide field-of-view, high-efficiency, and fast-response beam steering devices are desirable in a plethora of applications. Liquid crystals (LCs)—soft, bi-refringent, and self-assembled materials which respond to various external stimuli—are especially promising for fulfilling these demands. In this paper, we review recent advances in [...] Read more.
Continuous, wide field-of-view, high-efficiency, and fast-response beam steering devices are desirable in a plethora of applications. Liquid crystals (LCs)—soft, bi-refringent, and self-assembled materials which respond to various external stimuli—are especially promising for fulfilling these demands. In this paper, we review recent advances in LC beam steering devices. We first describe the general operation principles of LC beam steering techniques. Next, we delve into different kinds of beam steering devices, compare their pros and cons, and propose a new LC-cladding waveguide beam steerer using resistive electrodes and present our simulation results. Finally, two future development challenges are addressed: Fast response time for mid-wave infrared (MWIR) beam steering, and device hybridization for large-angle, high-efficiency, and continuous beam steering. To achieve fast response times for MWIR beam steering using a transmission-type optical phased array, we develop a low-loss polymer-network liquid crystal and characterize its electro-optical properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Liquid Crystal Optical Device)
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20 pages, 5038 KiB  
Review
Recent Advances in Adaptive Liquid Crystal Lenses
by José Francisco Algorri, Dimitrios C. Zografopoulos, Virginia Urruchi and José Manuel Sánchez-Pena
Crystals 2019, 9(5), 272; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst9050272 - 25 May 2019
Cited by 87 | Viewed by 10140
Abstract
An adaptive-focus lens is a device that is capable of tuning its focal length by means of an external stimulus. Numerous techniques for the demonstration of such devices have been reported thus far. Moving beyond traditional solutions, several new approaches have been proposed [...] Read more.
An adaptive-focus lens is a device that is capable of tuning its focal length by means of an external stimulus. Numerous techniques for the demonstration of such devices have been reported thus far. Moving beyond traditional solutions, several new approaches have been proposed in recent years based on the use of liquid crystals, which can have a great impact in emerging applications. This work focuses on the recent advances in liquid crystal lenses with diameters larger than 1 mm. Recent demonstrations and their performance characteristics are reviewed, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the reported technologies and identifying the challenges and future prospects in the active research field of adaptive-focus liquid crystal (LC) lenses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Liquid Crystal Optical Device)
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