Electrical tuning of branched flow of light

Shan-shan Chang, Ke-Hui Wu, Si-jia Liu, Zhi-Kang Lin, Jin-bing Wu, Shi-jun Ge, Lu-Jian Chen, Peng Chen, Wei Hu, Yadong Xu, Huanyang Chen, Dahai He, Da-Quan Yang, Jian-Hua Jiang (), Yan-qing Lu () and Jin-hui Chen ()
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Shan-shan Chang: Xiamen University
Ke-Hui Wu: Xiamen University
Si-jia Liu: Nanjing University
Zhi-Kang Lin: Soochow University
Jin-bing Wu: Nanjing University
Shi-jun Ge: Nanjing University
Lu-Jian Chen: Xiamen University
Peng Chen: Nanjing University
Wei Hu: Nanjing University
Yadong Xu: Soochow University
Huanyang Chen: Xiamen University
Dahai He: Xiamen University
Da-Quan Yang: Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
Jian-Hua Jiang: Soochow University
Yan-qing Lu: Nanjing University
Jin-hui Chen: Xiamen University

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Branched flows occur ubiquitously in various wave systems, when the propagating waves encounter weak correlated scattering potentials. Here we report the experimental realization of electrical tuning of the branched flow of light using a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) system. We create the physical realization of the weakly correlated disordered potentials of light via the inhomogeneous orientations of the NLC. We demonstrate that the branched flow of light can be switched on and off as well as tuned continuously through the electro-optical properties of NLC film. We further show that the branched flow can be manipulated by the polarization of the incident light due to the optical anisotropy of the NLC film. The nature of the branched flow of light is revealed via the unconventional intensity statistics and the rapid fidelity decay along the light propagation. Our study unveils an excellent platform for the tuning of the branched flow of light which creates a testbed for fundamental physics and offers a new way for steering light.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44500-8

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