Tuning selective reflection of light by surface anchoring in cholesteric cells with oblique helicoidal structures

Iadlovska, Olena S.; Maxwell, Graham R.; Babakhanova, Greta; Mehl, Georg H.; Welch, Christopher; Shiyanovskii, Sergij V.; Lavrentovich, Oleg D.

Abstract

Selective reflection of light by oblique helicoidal cholesteric (ChOH) can be tuned in a very broad spectral range by an applied electric field. In this work, we demonstrate that the peak wavelength of the selective reflection can be controlled by surface alignment of the director in sandwich cells. The peak wavelength is blue-shifted when the surface alignment is perpendicular to the bounding plates and red-shifted when it is planar. The effect is explained by the electric field redistribution within the cell caused by spatially varying heliconical ChOH structure. The observed phenomenon can be used in sensing applications.

Citation

Iadlovska, O. S., Maxwell, G. R., Babakhanova, G., Mehl, G. H., Welch, C., Shiyanovskii, S. V., & Lavrentovich, O. D. (2018). Tuning selective reflection of light by surface anchoring in cholesteric cells with oblique helicoidal structures. Optics letters, 43(8), 1850-1853. https://doi.org/10.1364/ol.43.001850

• Journal Article Type: Letter
• Acceptance Date: Mar 6, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Apr 11, 2018
• Publication Date: Apr 15, 2018
• Deposit Date: Apr 10, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 12, 2019
• Print ISSN: 0146-9592
• Electronic ISSN: 1539-4794
• Publisher: Optica
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 43
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 1850-1853
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/ol.43.001850
• Keywords: Chiral media, Electro-optical materials, Liquid crystals, Bragg reflectors; Birefringence; Spectra
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/775285
• Publisher URL: https://www.osapublishing.org/ol/abstract.cfm?uri=ol-43-8-1850
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: OSA - The Optical Society; Crossref DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.43.001850; Article type: letter; Similarity check: Screened by Similarity Check; Peer reviewed: Yes; Review process: Single blind; Received: 29 December 2017; Accepted: 6 March 2018; Published: 11 April 2018; Copyright: © 2018 Optical Society of America