Open AccessBeam steering with graded index photonic crystal lens and liquid crystal
Author(s) -
Bahari Babak,
RashedMohassel Jalil
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
iet optoelectronics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.379
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1751-8776
pISSN - 1751-8768
DOI - 10.1049/iet-opt.2013.0092
Subject(s) - beam steering , optics , materials science , refractive index , wavelength , beam (structure) , photonic crystal , liquid crystal , lens (geology) , beam propagation method , optoelectronics , finite element method , physics , thermodynamics
In this numerical study, a new compact and tunable beam‐steering device composed of graded index photonic crystal lens and liquid crystal material has been presented and demonstrated. The beam‐steering device can work in two modes: First, incident single wavelength beam steers by tuning the refractive index of the liquid crystal material. Second, by fixing the refractive index of the liquid crystal material, incident multi‐wavelength beam steers with different off‐axis angles for each wavelength. The numerical simulations with finite‐difference time‐domain method reveal that wide‐angle, ± 28.4°, beam steering can be achieved when the length of the liquid crystal layer equals 5.17 μm. Moreover, the wavelengths over λ = 1.518–1.553 μm or λ = 1.487–1.518 μm can be steered to different angles. A special characteristic of the presented structure gives an opportunity to be used as an efficient element in a high integrated optical device for miniaturisation and tuning purposes.