Self-alignment of liquid crystals in three-dimensional photonic crystals

Year: 2006

Authors: Gottardo S., Burresi M., Geobaldo F., Pallavidino L., Giorgis F., Wiersma D.

Autors Affiliation: European Laboratory for Nonlinear Spectroscopy, INFM-MATIS, via Nello Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy; Department of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Polytechnical University of Torino, C. so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, I-10129 Turin, Italy; Department of Physics, Polytechnical University of Torino, C. so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, I-10129 Turin, Italy

Abstract: We report on the observation of self-alignment of nematic liquid crystals into colloidal photonic crystals, over distances much larger than the typical size of the voids between the spheres. We observe that the infiltrated structure possesses a unique optical axis that is determined by an intrinsic structural anisotropy of photonic crystal opals. We develop a simple model to describe this self-alignment based on the connectivity of the pores. The resulting structure constitutes a polarization dependent photonic crystal that can be controlled electrically.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW E

Volume: 74 (4)      Pages from: 040702-1  to: 040702-4

KeyWords: Anisotropy; Colloids; Mathematical models; Photons; Polarization, Infiltrated structure; Photonic crystals; Self-alignment; Structural anisotropy; Nematic liquid crystals; Dynamic light-scattering; Electric-field; Band-gap
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.74.040702

Citations: 16
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