Electric Field-Driven Shifting and Expansion of Photonic Band Gaps in 3D Liquid Photonic Crystals

• DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.5b00314
• Publication Date: 2015-10-14T20:02:42Z
• Authors: Chun-Wei Chen; Cheng-Chang Li; Hung-Chang Jau; Lu-Chun Yu; Ching-Lang Hong; Duan-Yi Guo; Chun-Ta Wang; Tsung-Hsien Lin
• Keywords: Yablonovite; Blueshift; Photonic metamaterial

Highly tunable 3D liquid photonic crystals are demonstrated using low-dc-field-driven polymer-stabilized blue-phase crystals. The central wavelength of the band gap can be reversibly shifted to more than 200 nm away from original position. Besides, by controlling polymerization-induced morphology variations, also expanded a bandwidth around 30 at least 310 nm, first time "white" blue phase is observed. Both types band-gap modulation, namely, shifting and expansion, independently manipulated in any crystal axis without affecting lattice spacings other dimensions. We envision as fascinating platform for applications, such lasers, nonlinear optics, integrated circuits.