Optically switchable grating based on dye-doped ferroelectric liquid crystal with high efficiency

We demonstrate an all-optically switchable ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) grating constructed in an alternating binary configuration with different optical properties from domain to domain. A dye-doped FLC is uniformly aligned in one type of domains whereas it is infiltrated into the photo-polymerized networks of reactive mesogens in the other. Compared to conventional nematic LC cases, our FLC grating allows more efficient all-optical modulation and faster diffraction switching between the 0th and the 1st orders in subsecond since the optical response associated with the dye molecules in the layered state is less hindered than in the orientationally ordered state. Our dye-doped FLC grating with periodically infiltrated structures will be useful for designing a new class of all-optically switching systems.