Vertical Alignment of Liquid-Crystal Molecules due to Unilateral Anchoring from Charge Accumulation at the Semiconductor Interface

Nanoscale electrooptical modulation is key to making active metasurfaces, nanophotonic sensors, filters, and switches offering simple structures, easy production, and low loss. Progress has been stymied, though, because of the huge loss associated with using metals, and adverse effects caused by extra interlayers. Taking advantage of the chemical affinity between ZnSe and a particular liquid crystal (LC), perfect vertical alignment in LC cells is readily attained using nanoscale ZnSe films as aligning layers. This study provides guidance for designing low-loss active metasurfaces and could promote the engineering of surface-plasmon-based integrated circuits and photoelectric detectors.