Li Yong, Yin Zhen, Luo Dan
Opt Lett. 2023 Jan 1;48(1):89-92. doi: 10.1364/OL.479821.
The application of blue phase liquid crystals (BPLCs) in optical control devices has been widely studied due to their fast response characteristics. However, the fabrication of free-standing BPLC fiber with emerging functionalities is challenging. Here, we demonstrate a free-standing fiber based on BPLC with excellent stability, flexibility, and multifunction. The multi-mode fiber (MMF) end face is etched by the etching agent of buffered oxide etch (BOE), which can be fixedly connected with the free-standing BPLC fiber after polymerization in order to overcome the problems of optical signals transmission and reception. Three types of free-standing BPLC fiber-based devices, including Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) vapor sensors, vector position sensors, and color fibers, are fabricated and investigated, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time. The free-standing BPLC fiber as a multifunctional material will provide broad application prospects in VOC sensors without power supply, smart fabrics, flexible displays, decorations fields with no dyes, as well as vector displacement sensors for robotic arm positioning.
由于蓝相液晶（BPLC）具有快速响应特性，其在光控器件中的应用已得到广泛研究。然而，制造具有新兴功能的独立式BPLC光纤具有挑战性。在此，我们展示了一种基于BPLC的具有出色稳定性、柔韧性和多功能性的独立式光纤。多模光纤（MMF）端面通过缓冲氧化物蚀刻剂（BOE）进行蚀刻，聚合后可与独立式BPLC光纤固定连接，以克服光信号传输和接收的问题。据我们所知，首次制备并研究了三种基于独立式BPLC光纤的器件，包括挥发性有机化合物（VOC）气体传感器、矢量位置传感器和彩色光纤。这种作为多功能材料的独立式BPLC光纤将在无源VOC传感器、智能织物、柔性显示器、无染料装饰领域以及用于机器人手臂定位的矢量位移传感器等方面提供广阔的应用前景。
