Recent Progress in Liquid-Crystal Optical Fibers and Their Applications in Photonics

The aim of this paper is to review and demonstrate a recent progress in liquid-crystal optical fibers and their applications in photonics. The review starts from early works with classical optical fibers modified with liquid crystals and ends up with the latest achievements in the field of photonic liquid crystal fibers (PLCFs). Potential applications and future perspectives of PLCFs are shortly summarized.