Open AccessElectrically tunable high Q-factor micro-ring resonator based on blue phase liquid crystal cladding
Author(s) -
Chun-Ta Wang,
Yuancheng Li,
Jui-Hao Yu,
Cheng Yu Wang,
Chien-Ming Tseng,
HungChang Jau,
Yung-Jui Chen,
TsungHsien Lin
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.22.017776
Subject(s) - materials science , refractive index , cladding (metalworking) , resonator , optics , birefringence , optoelectronics , wavelength , split ring resonator , electric field , q factor , liquid crystal , physics , quantum mechanics , metallurgy
This work demonstrates an electrically tunable silicon nitride (SiN) micro-ring resonator with polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystals (PSBPLCs) cladding. An external vertical electric field is applied to modulate the refractive index of the PSBPLCs by exploiting its fast-response Kerr effect-induced birefringence. The consequent change in the refractive index of the cladding can vary the effective refractive index of the micro-ring resonator and shift the resonant wavelength. Crystalline structures of PSBPLCs with a scale of the order of hundreds of nanometers ensure that the resonator has a very low optical loss. The measured tuning range is 0.45 nm for TM polarized light under an applied voltage of 150V and the corresponding response time is in the sub-millisecond range with a Q-factor of greater than 20,000.