Strong modification of the reflection from birefringent layers of semiconductor nanowires by nanoshells

The propagation of light in layers of vertically aligned nanowires is determined by their unique and extreme optical properties. Depending on the nanowire filling fraction and their diameter, layers of nanowires form strongly birefringent media. This large birefringence gives rise to sharp angle dependent peaks in polarized reflection. We...

A subwavelength slit as a quarter-wave retarder

We have experimentally studied the polarization-dependent transmission properties of a nanoslit in a gold film as a function of its width. The slit exhibits strong birefringence and dichroism. We find, surprisingly, that the transmission of the polarization parallel to the slit only disappears when the slit is much narrower than half a...

Applicability of geometrical optics to in-plane liquid-crystal configurations

We study the applicability of geometrical optics to inhomogeneous dielectric nongyrotropic optically anisotropic media typically found in in-plane liquid-crystal configurations with refractive indices no=1.5 and ne=1.7. To this end, we compare the results of advanced ray- and wave-optics simulations of the propagation of an incident plane wave...

Birefringence-induced mode-dependent tuning of liquid crystal infiltrated InGaAsP photonic crystal nanocavities

Mode-dependent shifts of resonant frequencies of cavities in liquid crystal (LC) infiltrated planar photonic crystals (PhC) are experimentally observed when the temperature is varied across the LC ordering transition. The shifts can be in opposite directions, even for two very similar nearly degenerate modes. The behavior is attributed to the...

Ray-tracing simulations of liquid-crystal gradient-index lenses for three-dimensional displays

For the first time, to our knowledge, we report ray-tracing simulations of an advanced liquid-crystal gradientindex lens structure for application in switchable two-dimensional/three-dimensional (3D) autostereoscopic displays. We present ray-tracing simulations of the angular-dependent lens action. From the results we conclude that the lens...

Diffractive Optics of Anisotropic Polarization Gratings

Diffraction gratings are being used to manipulate light in many different applications, such as in flat panel display systems, modern lighting systems, and optical recording. Diffraction gratings can be made polarization selective due to form birefringence. An alternative approach to polarization selective gratings is to use birefringent...

Ray-optics analysis of inhomogeneous biaxially anisotropic media

Firm evidence of the biaxial nematic phase in liquid crystals, not induced by a magnetic or electric field, has been established only recently. The discovery of these biaxially anisotropic liquid crystals has opened up new areas of both fundamental and applied research. The advances in biaxial liquid crystal-related topics call for a good...

Simulations of a liquid-crystal-based electro-optical switch

We present simulations of a novel liquid-crystal-based electro-optical device that enables a switching effect owing to a backreflection phenomenon. In the simulations, we exploit the optical properties of a liquid-crystal layer with a Freédericksz alignment in an unconventional way. The resulting switching effect of the proposed optical design...

General polarized ray-tracing method for inhomogeneous uniaxially anisotropic media

Uniaxial optical anisotropy in the geometrical-optics approach is a classical problem, and most of the theory has been known for at least fifty years. Although the subject appears frequently in the literature, wave propagation through inhomogeneous anisotropic media is rarely addressed. The rapid advances in liquid-crystal lenses call for a good...

Correction of the phase retardation caused by intrinsic birefringence in deep UV lithography

In the year 2001 it was reported that the birefringence induced by spatial dispersion (BISD), sometimes also called intrinsic birefringence, had been measured and calculated for fluorides CaF2 and BaF2 in the deep UV range. It was also shown that the magnitude of the BISD in these cubic crystals is sufficiently large to cause serious problems...