INTEGRATED ELECTRO-OPTIC SWITCH BASED ON A FERROELECTRIC LIQUID CRYSTAL WAVEGUIDE

An elcctro-optic switch based on a planar, ferroelectric liquid crystal waveguide oriented in the bookshelf geometry has been realized and tested. The waveguide device consists of three stages: two glass waveguides and an FLC waveguide in between, permitting coupling and decoupling of the light into and out of the glass waveguides with prisms. The refractive indices of the FLC used were determined with a total internal reflection method. The time characteristics of the ON-OFF switch and the OFF-ON switch have been studied. Our main aim was the experimental demonstration of previous theoretical studies and no attempt was made up to now to optimize the device performance.