Terahertz wave characteristics of aligned microfiber/nematic liquid crystal composite and evaluation of variable phase shifter utilizing it

Abstract

Nematic liquid crystals (NLCs), with high responsiveness to electric fields and large dielectric anisotropy, are expected to be applied to THz wave devices. However, unlike optical applications, the LC layer thickness for these devices must be several hundred μm or more, which causes a fatal problem of the decay time exceeding several hundreds of seconds. In this study, we attempted to solve this problem using aligned microfiber (MF). Furthermore, we clarified the THz wave characteristics of its complex with LC (MF/LC) and evaluated the variable phase shifter utilizing it as an application example.