Optical tuning of nematic liquid crystal claddings for chip scale photonic circuits

Civil and military avionics applications are growing at a rapid pace and in order to keep up with the recent advances in data communications offering high compute density, avionics system architects have been moving toward an integrated optical network using optical fibers and components to replace their electrical counterparts [1,2]. Compact, low weight, high bandwidth, low-power and cost-effective avionics are gaining momentum. The use of all-optical components offers advantages in terms of high data rate, immunity to Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) / Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), higher signal-to-noise ratio, lower bit error rate (BER), lower power consumption, and lower lifetime system cost as compared to traditional approaches. Recently, a reconfigurable chip-scale optical routing fabric using photonic crystal waveguides for Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) was introduced [2], and optically controlled switching devices embodying carbon nanotubes combined with electro-active materials for fiber optic aircraft control systems were proposed [3].