Fabrication and characterization of fibers with built-in liquid crystal channels and electrodes for transverse incident-light modulation

We report on an all-in-fiber liquid crystal (LC) structure designed for the modulation of light incident transverse to the fiber axis. A hollow cavity flanked by viscous conductors is introduced into a polymer matrix, and the structure is thermally drawn into meters of fiber containing the geometrically scaled microfluidic channel and electrodes. The channel is filled with LCs, whose director orientation is modulated by an electric field generated between the built-in electrodes. Light transmission through the LC-channel at a particular location can be tuned by the driving frequency of the applied field, which directly controls the potential profile along the fiber.