Research on reconfigurable waveguide devices based on liquid crystal on silicon

Abstract

Due to the limitation of materials, PIC cannot achieve large magnitude phase modulation in a small size, and lacks the reconfigurable ability. Because of its birefringence characteristic, liquid crystal can be used in the liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) device to achieve a large amount of phase modulation in a small size and has the capacity of reconstruction. Based on the experimental results of LCoS devices and basic liquid crystal waveguide devices, the liquid crystal waveguide device is prepared. While retaining the LCoS spatial optical phase modulation capability, the liquid crystal waveguide and phase modulation capability are realized. The beam splitter, optical switch, and Mach–Zehnder interferometer structure are constructed, which verifies the feasibility of the liquid crystal waveguide phase modulator.