Electrically tunable polarization splitting and conversion based on 1DPC structure with anisotropic defect layer

The present study examined the tunability of wave polarization splitting and conversion in a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC) structure containing anisotropic electro-optical material. The 4 × 4 transfer matrix method was used to study the transmission properties of the structure. The incident light was assumed to be perpendicular to the optical axes of the anisotropic defect layer. The results indicate that, in the absence of an applied external electric field, for an incident plane wave with P- or S-polarization, a single P- or S-polarized defect mode, respectively, appears with the photonic band gap. Application of the external electric field create two P-polarized and two S-polarized defect modes of equal intensity. As the applied field increased, the splitting mode increased. The photonic band edges of the induced P(S)-polarized mode decreased (increased) as the field increased. The results of this communication can be useful in the design of tunable mode-selecting optical filters.