Liquid crystal alignment on chalcogenide glasses

A waveguide assembly for achieving alignment and optical switching of a liquid crystal (LC) layer that it is deposited on chalcogenide glass (ChG), comprising:

• a substrate;
• a bottom electrode deposited on the substrate;
• a ChG waveguide between 0.1 and 10 μm thick on the bottom electrode, wherein the ChG waveguide is thick enough to support at least one optical mode, and wherein the ChG waveguide has a brushed surface;
• a supersubstrate;
• a top electrode deposited on the supersubstrate;
• a thin ChG film between 0.01 and 0.2 μm thick on the top electrode, wherein the thin ChG film is thin enough so that it does not support an optical mode, and wherein the thin ChG film has a brushed surface;
• spacers to hold the thin ChG film at a fixed distance from the ChG waveguide;
• and
• an LC layer filling the space between the thin ChG film and the ChG waveguide.