太赫兹液晶材料与器件研究进展

液晶是一种性能优异的可调控光电功能材料,基于液晶的太赫兹器件有着广泛的应用前景,但高性能太赫兹功能器件的研发仍处于初级阶段.本文综述了太赫兹领域液晶材料与器件的研究现状,探讨了液晶技术与太赫兹技术相结合的发展趋势.

Bridging the terahertz near-field and far-field observations of liquid crystal based metamaterial absorbers

Metamaterial-based absorbers play a significant role in applications ranging from energy harvesting and thermal emitters to sensors and imaging devices.The middle dielectric layer of conventional metamaterial absorbers has always been solid.Researchers could not detect the near field distribution in this layer or utilize it effectively.Here,we use anisotropic liquid crystal as the dielectric layer to realize electrically fast tunable terahertz metamaterial absorbers.We demonstrate strong,position-dependent terahertz near-field enhancement with sub-wavelength resolution inside the metamaterial absorber.We measure the terahertz far-field absorption as the driving voltage increases.By combining experimental results with liquid crystal simulations,we verify the near-field distribution in the middle layer indirectly and bridge the nearfield and far-field observations.Our work opens new opportunities for creating high-performance,fast,tunable,terahertz metamaterial devices that can be applied in biological imaging and sensing.

Optical properties of stacked liquid crystal superstructures with opposite chirality [Invited]

Cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) has been widely used in flat optical elements due to the Pancharatnam–Berry(PB) phase modulation. In order to achieve PB phase modulation for both circular polarizations, it is natural to come up with stacking CLCs with opposite chirality. Here, various optical properties of diverse CLC stacking structures are systematically investigated by numerical calculations. With the thickness of the CLC sublayers becoming smaller, the reflection bandgap splits into three main parts, and the rotatory dispersion gradually becomes negligible. Vector beams provide a more intuitive verification. These results provide theoretical guidance for future studies on stacked chiral anisotropic media.

Microstructured fluorescence in liquid crystals with femtosecond laser excitation

This study investigated direct fluorescence generation from a nematic liquid crystal(NLC)NJU-LDn-4 under femtosecond laser excitation.The absorption,transmittance,excitation,and emission spectra of the NLC were assessed.The relationship between the femtosecond pump power and fluorescence intensity was analyzed,revealing a quadratic increase and indicating that two-photon absorption(2PA)is the primary fluorescence mechanism.The LC microstructure was designed using photoalignment technology,allowing the generated fluorescence to reflect the corresponding structure.This research can establish a foundation for tunable LC microstructured fluorescence,with potential applications in fluorescence microscopy and optoelectronics.

Photo-reconfigurable and electrically switchable spatial terahertz wave modulator[Invited]

Spatial terahertz wave modulators that can arbitrarily tailor the electromagnetic wavefront are in high demand in nondestructive inspections and high-capacity wireless communications.Here,we propose a liquid crystal integrated metadevice.It modulates the terahertz wave based on the adjustable electromagnetically induced transparency analog when spatially changing the environmental refractive index.The functions of the device can be arbitrarily programmed via photo-reorienting the directors of liquid crystals with a digital micromirror device-based exposing system.The thin liquid crystal layer can be further driven by an electric field,and thus the function can be rapidly switched.Amplitude modulation and the lens effect are demonstrated with modulation depths over 50%at 0.94 THz.

Tunable terahertz filter based on alternative liquid crystal layers and metallic slats

We propose and demonstrate a pseudo Fabry–Pérot filter in the terahertz frequency range of 0.1–0.5 THz. It consists of alternative liquid crystal layers and metallic slats. Separate sharp resonant peaks are shown in the simulated transmission spectra, and their positions shift toward higher frequencies when the refractive index of liquid crystal decreases. The measured transmission spectra are consistent with corresponding simulations. Via thermally tuning the refractive index of the filled liquid crystal, the resonant transmission frequencies shift accordingly. The work supplies a novel design for tunable terahertz filters, which would play important roles in terahertz imaging, sensing, high speed communication, and security applications.