Widely tunable nonlinear liquid crystal-based photonic crystals

We report theoretical and experimental studies of 1-D and 2-d tunable nonlinear photonic crystals made of liquid crystal or liquid crystal infiltr ated periodic structures. Theoretical modeling shows that such structures exhibit tunable bandgap, and super-prism effect. Experimentally, we have demonstrated the possibility of writing dynamic or permanent [but switchable] index gratings in dye-doped LC films that act as planar waveguides