Electrically tuned whispering gallery modes microresonator based on microstructured optical fibers infiltrated with dual-frequency liquid crystals

Abstract

An electrically tunable whispering gallery mode (WGM) microresonator based on an HF-etched microstructured optical fiber (MOF) infiltrated with dual-frequency liquid crystals (DFLCs) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for the investigation of the crossover frequency and Freedericksz transition of DFLCs. Experimental results indicate that for applied electric field with operation frequency below the crossover frequency, WGM resonance wavelength decreases with the increment of applied electric field strength. On the contrary, for applied electric field with operation frequency beyond the crossover frequency, WGM resonance dips show red shift as the applied electric field intensity increases. The proposed electrically tunable microcavity integrated with DFLCs is anticipated to find potential applications in optical filtering, all-optical switching, and electrically manipulated bi-directional micro-optics devices.

Keywords

• liquid crystal
• microstructured optical fiber (mof)
• optical microresonator
• whispering gallery mode (wgm)