Liquid Crystal Optics and Physics: Recent Advances and Prospects

Dear Colleagues,

Liquid crystals (LC) have been extensively investigated for more than 100 years. They possess orientational/positional orders as a crystalline solid and fluidity as a liquid. Surprisingly, there are a number of physical properties that are unique to LC, including large physical anisotropies and viscoelasticity, and high susceptibility to external stimuli. Therefore, LCs are oftentimes the best optical material for applications ranging from displays to sensors and photonic circuits. LC optics and physics are still growing fields of research, and many scientific and technological breakthroughs have been made over the past few years. Emerging display technologies, such as see-through displays, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) display systems, have been developed and created new design/application possibilities. Low power consumption also makes LC promising for energy-saving applications such as smart windows. For photonic applications, diffractive optical elements based on LCs realized by a patterned surface are powerful tools for complex spatial field shaping; photonic-crystalline LCs (e.g., cholesteric and blue phases) are employed for manipulating light spectrally and/or temporally and generating lasers. Besides the technological advances, fundamental physics research on topics such as topological defects and nonlinear optics are also of great interest. LCs are known to possess a wide variety of collective nonlinear optical phenomena, and countless types of topological defects are easily generated and manipulated in LCs. At last, we would like to note that LC optics have been expanded from the traditional UV–Vis–NIR spectrum to mid-IR, THz, and microwave regimes, thanks to their ultra-broadband birefringence.

This Special Issue is aimed at both basic and applied research, concentrating on the optics and physics of Liquid Crystals, as well as their use in various applications. Besides original research articles, we also encourage submission of review papers on recent advances and future prospects of LC technologies and challenges. Topics for the feature issue will include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Topological defects and nanoparticle self-assembly
• Optical properties and applications of LCs in mid-IR, THz, and microwave regimes
• Nonlinear optics (e.g., EFISH and photorefractive effect)
• Multi-stable operations in LCs and their applications (e.g., smart optical switches, energy-saving windows, and reflective displays)
• Flat optics: diffractive (geometric-phase) optical elements based on photoalignment (e.g., optic-axis grating, q plate, and lens)
• Novel display technologies (e.g., transparent, AR, VR, and holographic displays)
• Bio, chemical, and vibration sensors
• Photonic-crystalline LCs (e.g., chiral nematic, chiral smectic, and blue phases) and LC-infiltrated photonic crystals

Active integrated photonic devices (e.g., waveguide, fiber, photonic crystal, metamaterials, and plasmonics)

Prof. Chun-Ta Wang
Dr. Qi Guo
Prof. Chan-Shan Yang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• LC defects
• LC nonlinear optics
• LC flat-optics
• Photonic-crystalline LCs
• LC displays/sensors/integrated photonic devices