Index Guiding Photonic Liquid Crystal Fibers for Practical Applications

Photonic liquid crystal fibers (PLCFs) can be categorized in two principal groups: index guiding PLCFs and photonic bandgap PLCFs. In this paper we focus on index guiding PLCFs in which effective refractive index of the micro structured cladding filled with liquid crystal is lower than refractive index of the fiber core. In these fibers broadband propagation of light is observed and also effective tuning of guiding properties is possible. In this paper PLCFs with tunable attenuation, retardation and polarization dependent losses are reported. We also enumerate some potential applications of index-guiding PLCFs, together with discussion of few technical issues important in the context of future development (i.e., effective electrical steering and connecting with standard fibers).