液晶软光子学——光场的多自由度调控

液晶是一类典型的软物质。它具有优异的外场调谐特性以及多层级的组装结构特征。文章介绍了作者在液晶光控取向技术及其光学应用方面取得的进展，如对液晶进行图案化编码实现任意液晶微结构的制备及多层级操纵，对光场的振幅、相位、偏振及波长等多自由度进行灵活、高效的调控，实现功能可调的液晶太赫兹器件等。     

平带光子微结构中的新颖现象:从模式局域到实空间拓扑

近年来,凝聚态物理中平带局域与拓扑等概念与光学体系的有机结合,使得平带光子学系统的研究迎来了极为快速的发展,催生了一系列新颖的光物理现象与潜在的应用前景.目前,平带结构在光子晶体、光学超构材料以及光子晶格(倏逝波耦合的光学波导阵列)等多种人工光子微结构中得到了实现,并在其中观察到了很多凝聚态系统中难以直接实现的物理现象.本文简要综述光子微结构中关于平带物理的最新研究进展.以光诱导和激光直写光子晶格系统为例,包括Lieb, Kagome和超级蜂窝晶格等,特别介绍平带模式局域与实空间拓扑效应等新颖物理现象.光子微结构为研究平带物理和拓扑效应提供了一个可调控的平台,同时其研究结果也对探究电子、声子、等离激元、腔极化子与超冷原子等系统中相关的基本物理问题和应用具有借鉴作用.     

电场作用下高分子中自陷束缚激了的极化

用同时计入电场、对称破损项ｔｅ和电子－晶格相互作用的紧束缚模型研究了电场作用下高分子中的自陷束缚激子，发现电场使高分子中自吵缚激子内电荷发生转移，出现极化，极化程度随场强增加，也与ｔｅ有关，并发现ｔｅ≤０．１ｅＶ时，双激子态表现出反向极化特性，这一特性可根据极化的量子力学化理论得到理解：对高分子的自陷束缚激子，其禁带中央附近存在两上靠得很近的定域电子态即上定域态和下定域态，用微扰论说明限上定域态是     

用偏光干涉法动态测量扭曲向列型液晶指向矢

提出一种基于双折射晶体劈的偏振态实时测量方法,并将该方法用于扭曲向列型液晶透射光的偏振态分析,实现了液晶分子平均指向矢的动态测量.利用基于晶体劈的偏光干涉法将待测光的偏振参量编码为两组干涉条纹,通过对干涉条纹定位实现偏振态的实时测量;再根据液晶指向矢的倾角、扭转角与透射光偏振态之间的关系,推算出液晶分子平均指向矢的动态信息.本实验测量液晶指向矢的速度为每秒5次,液晶平均指向矢的倾角、扭转角的测量准确度达到0.2°.本文研究为液晶分子平均指向矢的动态测量提供了一种有效途径.     

电场作用下高分子中自陷束缚激子的极化

用同时计入电场、对称破缺项t_e和电子-晶格相互作用的紧束缚模型研究了电场作用下高分子中的自陷束缚激子.发现电场使高分子中自陷束缚激子内电荷发生转移，出现极化.极化程度随场强增加，也与t_e有关.并发现t_e≤0.1 eV时，双激子态表现出反向极化特性，这一特性可根据极化的量子力学理论得到理解：对高分子的自陷束缚激子，其禁带中央附近存在两个靠得很近的定域电子态即上定域态和下定域态，用微扰论说明了上定域态是反向极化而下定域态为正向极化；双激子态即上     

二维线性与非线性光晶格中物质波孤立子的稳定性

利用变分法和数值计算方法研究了二维线性和非线性光晶格中二维玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体系中物质波孤立子的存在及其稳定性. 利用定态变分原理及Vakhitov-Kolokolov判据总结了线性和非线性结合光晶格中几种参数组合下定态定域解的稳定性. 结果表明, 当存在二维非线性光晶格时, 在吸引和排斥相互作用的原子体系中均可以存在稳定的物质波孤立子. 另外, 利用含时变分法研究了线性和非线性光晶格中物质波孤立子随时间的传播特性, 使波包参数对时间的一阶导数等于零, 可以给出稳定状态对应的参数, 结论和定态变分法给出的结果一致. 最后用数值计算方法研究变分结果的正确性, 把变分结果作为初始条件代入Gross-Pitaevskii方程研究其随时间传播特征, 得到了稳定的传播过程, 所得到的结果和变分分析结果一致. 关键词： 线性非线性光晶格 玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚 孤立子 稳定性     

液晶热图象温度检测

液晶作为较低(250℃以下)温度检测的一种材料很有应用价值.本文主要对胆甾型液晶的彩色热图象显示原理和有关应用技术,作一简单介绍. 已知的液晶都是有机化合物,它是处于固相和液相之间的一个中间相——液晶相.液晶具有液体的流动性,不能承受切应力,可形成液滴.液晶分子在液晶中无位置长程有序性,但它又具有晶体的某些特性,如分子取向有序性和宏观的折射率、介电常数、电阻率、磁化率等的各向异性.这些各向异性来自液晶分子本身的几何各向异性,有长棒形,板条形或盘形.液晶大体可分为热致液晶和溶致液晶两大类. 热致液晶大体分为丝状液晶或向…     

第十二届国际液晶会议在联邦德国弗赖堡举行

第十二届国际液晶会议于1988年8月15—19日在联邦德国南部城市弗赖堡举行.30多个国家的近800名代表出席了会议.我国参加会议的代表有清华大学物理系的赵静安、王新久和深圳天马微电子公司的汪斌等人. 与会代表共发表了502篇论文,其中包括:(1)化学合成和分子性质方面59篇;(2)高分子液晶方面71篇;(3)溶致液晶方面53篇;(4)手征液晶与蓝相方面32篇;(5)铁电液晶方面68篇;(6)应用方面45篇;(7)表面和界面方面18篇;(8)相结构和相变方面61篇;(9)分子动力学和分子理论方面57篇;(10)不稳定性、缺陷和涨落方面24篇;(11)非线性光学方面7篇.此外,还有三篇…     

液晶光子晶体的负折射特性研究

可调光子晶体由于其潜在的应用价值成为现今光子晶体研究中的一个热点.本文提出了通过光诱导液晶来调节光子晶体负折射效应的方法,采用平面波展开法、等频图分析法和推广的斯涅尔定理分析了二维液晶正方晶格光子晶体负折射的可调节性.提出了一种新型的液晶光子晶体结构, 数值模拟结果表明:通过偏振光改变液晶指向矢可以调节该液晶光子晶体的负折射.与电场调制方法相比,该光控液晶取向技术具有响应速度快、结构简单的优点.这种可调光子晶体可用于制作光控路由或者应用于全光网络.     

蓝相液晶显示:下一代颠覆性技术

自从2002年Kikuchi发现了利用稳态聚合物拓宽蓝相液晶温度范围和2008年三星展示了第一台蓝相LCD样机,整个世界对这个颠覆性技术的到来充满了期待。以克尔效应为基础的蓝相液晶技术拥有以下优点:微秒级响应时间,无需定向层,暗场时光学上是各向同性,视角大,透过率对液晶盒厚度不敏感,易于大屏制作等。对于场序性的RGB LED色彩,可以降低动态伪像,同时光学效率和分辨率可以提高3倍。然而,还有一些“瓶颈”问题需要在广泛应用之前克服,例如高操作电压、反应滞后、双折射残留和图像残留。本文将会介绍关于这些基本问题的最新进展,和一种新的具有低操作电压、高透过率、无滞后和双折射残留的蓝相LCD。蓝相液晶时代曙光将呈现在我们眼前。     

On transmittance and localization of the electromagnetic wave in two-dimensional graphene-based photonic crystals

Two-dimensional graphene-based photonic crystal (GPC) formed by a periodic array of the homogeneous dielectric cylinders etched in the alternating graphene and dielectric layers and its inverse counterpart are considered. The transmittance of the photonic crystal is obtained. The waveguide due to the localization of the electromagnetic wave on the lattice defect that breaks the translational symmetry of the GPC of two different topologies is studied. The different topologies of GPC are characterized by different photonic band structures with different widths of photonic band gaps (PBG) and provide different frequencies for the localized electromagnetic wave due to the defect. The frequencies of the localized mode for both type of the GPC, located inside the lowest PBG, are in the range of THz or tens of THz depending on the topology of the GPC. It is shown that the photonic band gap always can be tuned by changing the chemical potential of graphene to provide formation of the localized photonic mode due to the defect. The technological advantages of the GPC, as well as the opportunity to tune the PBG and the frequency of the localized electromagnetic wave in the terahertz region of spectrum for the GPC are discussed.     

Localized electromagnetic modes and the transmission spectrum of a one-dimensional photonic crystal with lattice defects

The properties of localized electromagnetic modes in a one-dimensional photonic crystal with a structural defect layer were studied. The role of the defect was played by an anisotropic nematic liquid crystal layer. The frequency and the damping factor of defect modes were shown to substantially depend on the defect layer thickness and the orientation of the optical axis of the nematic. The transmission spectra of photonic crystals with one and two lattice defects were studied. Taking into account the special feature of nematic liquid crystals distinguishing them from usual crystals, namely, large permittivity anisotropy, it was shown that the transmission spectrum of the photonic crystal could be controlled by varying the orientation of the optical axis of the nematic, for instance, under the action of an external electric field.     

二维光子晶体禁带特性研究

采用平面波展开法对二维光子晶体分别在E和H极化下的带隙进行了计算. 考虑了填充比、晶格结构、介电常数对最大绝对帯隙的影响. 结果表明,不论是正方晶格还是三角晶格,TM模在介质柱型光子晶体中更容易形成带隙;TE模在空气孔型光子晶体中更容易形成带隙. 填充比一定,最大绝对帯隙宽度并非随着介电常数增大总是增大,而是存在一个峰值. 相对介电常数一定,最大绝对帯隙宽度随填充比的变化也存在一个峰值. 不论空气孔型还是介质柱型结构,三角晶格比正方晶格更容易形成帯隙. 关键词： 平面波展开法 TE模 TM模 最大绝对帯隙     

Two-dimensional vectorial photonic crystals formed in azo-dye-doped liquid crystals

A 2D, square lattice, vectorial photonic crystal is formed by vectorial holography using an azo-dye-doped liquid-crystal material. Four coherent beams are interfered to generate a highly stable, switchable polarization holography structure. The formation of the vectorial lattice by the liquid-crystal molecular orientation is confirmed by diffraction pattern and polarization microscopy analysis. Simulations of the alignment and diffraction pattern are in good agreement with the experimental results. Polarization sensitive diffraction behavior is also consistent with the Kakichashvili model.     

Anisotropic photonic crystals: Generalized plane wave method and dispersion symmetry properties

This article presents a generalized vector plane wave expansion method, applicable to isotropic and anisotropic periodic dielectric media of arbitrary geometry and dimension. The influence of anisotropic material orientation on the symmetry properties of photonic crystal dispersion surface is discussed. It is shown that the overall Brillouin zone symmetry is formed by the intersection of the photonic crystal lattice symmetry and the symmetry determined by the anisotropic material orientation. This work explains how to define the irreducible Brillouin zone of a two-dimensional anisotropic photonic crystal and demonstrates that doing it correctly allows one to avoid erroneous results, when calculating band gap diagrams of anisotropic photonic crystals. With the help of the methods presented, the possibility of controlling the band gaps of anisotropic photonic crystals by means of external electric field is shown.     

Nonlinear photonic lattices in anisotropic nonlocal self-focusing media

We analyze theoretically and generate experimentally two-dimensional nonlinear lattices with periodic phase modulation in a photorefractive medium. The light-induced periodically modulated nonlinear refractive index is highly anisotropic and nonlocal, and it depends on the lattice orientation relative to the crystal axis. We discuss the stability of such induced photonic structures and their guiding properties.     

Novel spatial solitons in light-induced photonic bandgap structures

The study of wave propagation in periodic systems is at the frontiers of physics, from fluids to condensed matter physics, and from photonic crystals to Bose-Einstein condensates. In optics, a typical example of periodic system is a closely-spaced waveguide array, in which collective behavior of wave propagation exhibits many intriguing phenomena that have no counterpart in homogeneous media. Even in a linear waveguide array, the diffraction property of a light beam changes due to evanescent coupling between nearby waveguide sites, leading to normal and anomalous discrete diffraction. In a nonlinear waveguide array, a balance between diffraction and self-action gives rise to novel localized states such as spatial “discrete solitons” in the semi-infinite (or total-internal-reflection) gap or spatial “gap solitons” in the Bragg reflection gaps. Recently, in a series of experiments, we have “fabricated” closely-spaced waveguide arrays (photonic lattices) by optical induction. Such photonic structures have attracted great interest due to their novel physics, link to photonic crystals, as well as potential applications in optical switching and navigation. In this review article, we present a brief overview on our experimental demonstrations of a number of novel spatial soliton phenomena in light-induced photonic bandgap structures, including self-trapping of fundamental discrete solitons and more sophisticated lattice gap solitons. Much of our work has direct impact on the study of similar discrete phenomena in systems beyond optics, including sound waves, water waves, and matter waves (Bose-Einstein condensates) propagating in periodic potentials.      

Novel spatial solitons in light-induced photonic bandgap structures

The study of wave propagation in periodic systems is at the frontiers of physics, from fluids to condensed matter physics, and from photonic crystals to Bose-Einstein condensates. In optics, a typical example of periodic system is a closely-spaced waveguide array, in which collective behavior of wave propagation exhibits many intriguing phenomena that have no counterpart in homogeneous media. Even in a linear waveguide array, the diffraction property of a light beam changes due to evanescent coupling between nearby waveguide sites, leading to normal and anomalous discrete diffraction. In a nonlinear waveguide array, a balance between diffraction and self-action gives rise to novel localized states such as spatial “discrete solitons” in the semi-infinite (or total-internal-reflection) gap or spatial “gap solitons” in the Bragg reflection gaps. Recently, in a series of experiments, we have “fabricated” closely-spaced waveguide arrays (photonic lattices) by optical induction. Such photonic structures have attracted great interest due to their novel physics, link to photonic crystals, as well as potential applications in optical switching and navigation. In this review article, we present a brief overview on our experimental demonstrations of a number of novel spatial soliton phenomena in light-induced photonic bandgap structures, including self-trapping of fundamental discrete solitons and more sophisticated lattice gap solitons. Much of our work has direct impact on the study of similar discrete phenomena in systems beyond optics, including sound waves, water waves, and matter waves (Bose-Einstein condensates) propagating in periodic potentials.     

High pressure lattice dynamics, dielectric and thermodynamic properties of SrO

Using density functional theory and density functional perturbation theory we have studied the effects of hydrostatic pressure on lattice dynamics, dielectric and thermodynamic properties of the rocksalt (NaCl) and CsCl phases of SrO. The stability of the NiAs type structure, experimentally confirmed to be stable in BaO, is also investigated. Studying the lattice dynamics of the NaCl and CsCl phases at various pressures, in the range of the phase stability, we have found the lattice dynamical instabilities which govern the phase transitions between NaCl and CsCl phases with increasing and decreasing pressure. By monitoring the behaviour of the found soft modes, we have calculated the transition pressures upon compression and decompression of SrO crystal. Lattice dynamics calculations reveal that the rocksalt and CsCl structures are unstable with respect to the soft transversal acoustic modes at single points of the Brillouin zone, which points to the fact that the transitions are of displacive type. Responses to electric fields and thermodynamic properties at high pressures are also given and discussed. All our results are in a good agreement with experimental data where applicable.     

二维光子晶体的软平板印刷技术制作研究

分析了软平板印刷技术制作二维光子晶体的特点和方法.利用绝缘PDMS模板,采用软平板印刷技术制造了三角晶系结构的二维聚合物光子晶体,采用同样的技术成功制成尺寸为150~500 nm,纵横比达1.25的高密度二维光子晶体.与其他制作技术相比,平板印刷技术具有大尺寸和易于制作的优点.结果表明,制作获得的微结构有很高的保真度.