USE OF DEFORMED HELIX FERROELECTRIC LIQUID CRYSTALS IN FABRY PEROT ETALONS

Abstract Preliminary results are presented for a Fabry Perot etalon incorporating a Deformed Helix Ferroeletric Liquid Crystal (DHF-LC) as the active cavity medium The principle of the operation is based on the increase of effective birefringence of DHF-LCs upon application of an electric field. Both the effective extraordinary refractive index no(eff) and the effective ordinary refractive index no(eff) were found to be able to tune the wavelengths with a tuning range of about 10nm for wavelengths around 630nm. The response times were found to be between a hundred and a few hundred microseconds when the device was used as an optical switch.