Tunable highly birefringent bandgap-guiding liquid-crystal microstructured fibers

A new type of nematic liquid-crystal infiltrated photonic bandgap-guiding fiber for single polarization or high-birefringence guidance is proposed. Numerical studies demonstrate that modal birefringence can be tuned by proper selection of the structural and material parameters as well as by the application of an external electric field in conjunction with the specific liquid-crystal anchoring conditions. © 2006 IEEE.