Submicrosecond electro-optical switching of one-dimensional soft photonic crystals

• DOI: 10.1364/prj.449284
• Publication Date: 2022-01-14T20:30:11Z
• Authors: Lingling Ma; Chaoyi Li; Luyao Sun; Zhenpeng Song; Yanqing Lu; Bingxiang Li
• Keywords: Photonic metamaterial; Ranging

Soft photonic crystals are appealing due to their self-assembly ability, wide tunability, and multistimuli-responsiveness. However, response time is relatively slow, ranging from milliseconds minutes. Here, we report submicrosecond switching of chiral liquid (LCs) with 1D microstructures, where electric fields modify the orientational order molecules quench fluctuations, rather than altering orientation. Thus, adjusted refractive indices result in a fast shift bandgap, on 100 ns, which four orders magnitude faster conventional electro-optic cholesterics. This work offers tremendous opportunities for soft applications.