Plasmonic all-optical bistable device based on nematic liquid crystal

Low-power all-optical bistable liquid crystal (LC) devices are reported in which surface plasmons propagate along a metallic grating. The threshold switching illumination was 1.4 mW/mm2 in the device with the twisted-nematic LC cell. This is a lower value than for all-optical bistable devices reported previously. This low-power bistability device can be used in two-dimensional optical memories or spatial light modulators.

Research highlights
► Low-power all-optical bistable liquid crystal devices based on surface plasmons.
► The surface plasmon propagates along metallic grating.
► The threshold switching illumination was 1.4 mW/mm2.