Fabrication of a liquid crystal light modulator by use of femtosecond-laser-induced nanoripples

We report on fabrication of a liquid crystal (LC) electro-optic modulator in fused silica by three-dimensional (3D) femtosecond laser micromachining. The LC light modulator consists of a LC cell, four embedded microelectrodes and a buried optical waveguide, which are defined in the glass substrate simultaneously by femtosecond laser direct writing. The fabricated LC cell enables homogeneous alignment of LC molecules owing to the femtosecond-laser-induced nanoripples on the inner wall of LC cell. The embedded microelectrodes give rise to homogeneous electric field in the LC cell, enabling efficient control of the orientation of LC molecules. The 3D integration of microoptical, microelectrical and microfluidic components in a single glass chip enables rapid prototyping of multifunctional devices in a monolithic substrate.