Development of free-standing large-scale monocrystalline and non-cubic blue-phase photonic crystal
Abstract
We anticipate that the proposed program will enable us to develop soft freestanding3D photonic crystals and remove the restriction on the manipulation of bluephase liquid crystals’ (BPLCs) lattice orientation and crystal structure. One of thegreatest challenges in 3D photonic crystal research is the large dimension (>1000’s latticeconstants) and precision (e.g. refractive index contrasts) required to produce sharpphotonic band gap. We have succeeded in the fabrication of monocrystalline photoniccrystals of record-setting dimensions by con-trolling the natural self-assemblyprocesses which occur in blue-phase liquid crystals (BPLCs). Based on this result, wefurther propose two approaches based on materials’ properties and the templatetechnique to develop soft free-standing 3D photonic crystals. Free-standing BPmonocrystals will enable true flexibility, processability (e.g. shaping), and morefunctions because of the removal of the confining glass substrates. Moreover, tomanipulate the crystal structure of BPLCs, we propose a special electrical treatmentand the induced structures are identified by a spectrometer and Ko?ssel diagram. Theparameters of the electrical treatment will be thoroughly investigated. Moreover, weplan to establish a model to describe the phenomenon. In this project, the manipulationof 3D liquid photonic crystals is expected to be dramatically enhanced. Therefore, manyadvanced applications such as three-dimensional lasing, superlens withpositive/negative refraction, ultrafast laser pulse modulations, switching, limiting andagile filter are envisioned.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 28, 2018
- Source ID
- FA23861814039
Entities
People
- Tsung-Hsien Lin
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- National Sun Yat-sen University
- United States Air Force