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 different interactions of the modes with the two components of the refractive index of the LC infill and directly demonstrates that at least a substantial amount of the LC is oriented perpendicular to the PhC-hole axis.