Optically generated reconfigurable photonic structures of elastic quasiparticles in frustrated cholesteric liquid crystals

We describe laser-induced two-dimensional periodic photonic structures formed by localized particle-like excitations in an untwisted confined cholesteric liquid crystal. The individual particle-like excitations (dubbed "Torons") contain three-dimensional twist of the liquid crystal director matched to the uniform background director field by topological point defects. Using both single-beam-steering and holographic pattern generation approaches, the periodic crystal lattices are tailored by tuning their periodicity, reorienting their crystallographic axes, and introducing defects. Moreover, these lattices can be dynamically reconfigurable: generated, modified, erased and then recreated, depending on the needs of a particular photonic application. This robust control is performed by tightly focused laser beams of power 10-100 mW and by low-frequency electric fields at voltages ∼10 V applied to the transparent electrodes.