Study and Application of Liquid Crystal Modulated Micro- and Nano- Periodic Structures

The aim of this project "Study and Application of Liquid Crystal Modulated Micro- and Nano- Periodic Structures" is to use the birefringence characteristics of liquid crystals with external voltage application to modulate the optical properties of the one- and twodimensional micro- and nano- periodic structures. The molecules of liquid crystals are vertically aligned by doping nano-particles. Based on this investigation, we plan to develop novel integrated optics applications like real-time three dimensional nano-metric displacements and rotation monitoring system, imaging of liquid crystal array, application of surface plasmon sensing, and hollow Bragg waveguide grating. In the first year of the project, we plan to establish the equipments of producing liquid crystal film and setup the system for measuring the phase distributions of liquid crystals. We also plan to setup the real-time nano-metric two dimensional displacement monitoring system. At the same time, the technique of filling the nano-particle doped liquid crystal into the hollow Bragg waveguide will be developed. In the second year of the project, we plan to fabricate the reflective and transmission-type birefringent liquid crystal array and investigate the imaging properties of liquid crystal film combined with photonic crystal plates. A thin metal film is deposited onto the photonic crystal plate to study how the surface plasmon wave influences the orientation of liquid crystal molecules. At the same time, the technique of complicated electrode grown on the Bragg waveguide will be developed and the polarization effect of liquid crystal filled hollow Bragg waveguide will be analyzed. The numerical method is performed to design and simulate the imaging effect of liquid crystal filled photonic crystal plate and the spectral response of hollow Bragg waveguide grating. In the third year, we plan to use the experience of the first two years to realize the real-time three dimensional nano-metric displacements and rotation monitoring system. At the same time, we will design and fabricate the complicated birefringent waveguide grating structure and insert the phase shifts inside to attain multi-functional filtering characteristics.

Project ID:PB9806-0101
External Project ID:NSC98-2218-E008-004