Continuously tunable all-in-fiber devices based on thermal and electrical control of negative dielectric anisotropy liquid crystal photonic bandgap fibers

We infiltrate photonic crystal fibers with a negative dielectric anisotropy liquid crystal. 396nm bandgap shift is obtained in the temperature range 22°C-80°C, and 67 nm shift of long-wavelength bandgap edge is achieved by applying a voltage of 200Vrms. The polarization sensitivity and corresponding activation loss are measured by using polarized light and a full broadband polarization control setup. The electrically induced phase shift on the Poincaré sphere and corresponding birefringence change are also measured. According to the results, tunable wave plates working in the wavelength range 1520nm-1580nm and a potential for realizing a polarimeter working at 1310nm region are experimentally demonstrated.