Micro-sized tunable liquid crystal optical filters.

Liquid crystal arrayed microcavities (LCAM) is a new technology for ultra-narrow optical filtering (FWHM ∼0.1  nm) that uses picoliter volume Fabry-Perot-type optical cavities filled with liquid crystal for tuning. LCAMs are sub-nm spectral resolution filters, which utilize well-established laser writing, thin film deposition, and wafer manufacturing techniques. These filters are compact, robust, and inexpensive. Compact, high-resolution optical filters have applications, including biomedical imaging, chemical detection, and environmental monitoring. Here, we describe the LCAM design and initial performance metrics.