Self-alignment of liquid crystals in three-dimensional photonic crystals.
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.
Gottardo
Stefano
S
European Laboratory for Nonlinear Spectroscopy and INFM-MATIS, via Nello Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy. gottardo@lens.unifi.it
Burresi
Matteo
M
Geobaldo
Francesco
F
Pallavidino
Luca
L
Giorgis
Fabrizio
F
Wiersma
Diederik S
DS