Dresden 2020 – scientific programme

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KFM: Fachverband Kristalline Festkörper und deren Mikrostruktur

KFM 15: Postersession KFM

KFM 15.12: Poster

Thursday, March 19, 2020, 16:00–18:30, P2/1OG

Flexible Liquid Crystal Elastomer Substrates for Coupling of Whispering-Gallery-Mode Resonators — •Pascal Rietz, Simon Woska, Osman Karayel, and Heinz Kalt — Institute of Applied Physics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany

Whispering-Gallery-Mode (WGM) resonators confine light due to total internal reflection in a rotationally symmetric structure. They are promising elements of versatile photonic devices like filters or switches. A reversible tuning of the inter-cavity gap between several resonators is thereby beneficial for various applications. In this context, we propose mechanically flexible photonic devices completely made from polymers. We fabricate substrates out of liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) onto which the resonators are structured by Direct Laser Writing.

LCEs are cross-linked but flexible polymers that change their conformation when heated over a moderate temperature range. By doing so, the dimension along a previously ordered direction is reduced. This fully reversible transformation allows the tuning of the inter-cavity gap of WGM resonators structured onto these substrates.

In this contribution, we demonstrate a process for the fabrication of substrates made from LCE. The necessary parallel alignment of the LCE monomers is achieved by a rubbing process of sacrificial layers which is adapted from the liquid crystal technology. To achieve a reliable and enhanced ordering of the LCE monomers and hence a better actuation of the substrates we also present a method and first results to quantify this actuation.