Full-Vectorial Description of the Light Guidance in Anisotropic Photonic Liquid Crystal Fibers

K.A. Rutkowskaa and L.W. Weib aFaculty of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology, Koszykowa 75, 00-662 Warsaw, Poland, bInstitute of Micromechanics and Photonics, Warsaw University of Technology, A. Boboli 8, 02-525 Warsaw, Poland

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In this paper we present our theoretical approach for the description of the light guidance in photonic liquid crystal fibers. In particular, we focus on the numerical methods allowing for a full implementation of the liquid crystals properties (i.e., including their optical anisotropy and molecular orientation), with a final target in characterizing photonic liquid crystal fibers with accessible computational effort. For this purpose suitable analytical formulae required for a full-vectorial description of the optical modes in photonic liquid crystal fibers have been derived. In addition, computational schemes allowing for numerical implementation of theoretical formulations (with the use of the finite-difference scheme) have been developed, validated and optimized. Their numerical convergence has been checked for different structures, as well as for different input parameters (e.g., grid-size). Obtained results have been compared to those analytically calculated, known from literature and/or got with use of commercial software. Moreover, the implemented schemes have been examined in accordance with experimental tests performed on the photonic liquid crystal fiber of interest.

DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.122.880 PACS numbers: 02.60.Cb, 02.70.Bf, 42.25.Bs, 42.70.Qs, 42.81.Wg, 42.70.Df