Numerical studies on self-organized liquid crystal micro photonic systems

The liquid crystals (LCs) form various types of nano- and micro- structures in a self-organized manner. In recent years, numerous studies have been carried out to develop novel types of optical functional materials and devices utilizing such self-organizing characteristics of the LCs. Based on the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method or its extended version, auxiliary differential equation FDTD (ADE-FDTD) method, we have been numerically studying on the optical characteristics and functionalities of the self-organized LCs such as: (1) lasing from the cholesteric LCs (CLCs) and (2) photonic nanojet (PNJ) from LC micro-systems. Based on the ADE-FDTD method incorporating the equation of motion of the macroscopic polarization and the rate equations at the four level energy structures, we have successfully reproduced circularly polarized lasing from CLC at the edge energy of the stop band. It has also been clarified that the introduction of the defect is effective to lower the lasing threshold. Our technique can be utilized to design the CLC laser devise architecture for much lowered lasing threshold. The PNJ from LC micro-systems are uniquely polarized reflecting birefringence of LCs, which cannot be obtained using optically isotropic microdroplets or microcylinders. A small degree of birefringence drastically changes the optical characteristics of the obtained PNJ. Our findings may open the way for the development of the novel optical functional materials and devices.