Guiding and Manipulating Light Fields in Microstructured Liquid Crystals

ABSTRACT Liquid crystals (LCs), versatile soft materials endowed with intrinsic optical anisotropy and exceptional responsiveness to external stimuli, have emerged as a pivotal platform for advanced light‐field manipulation and integrated photonics. This review summarizes recent advances in microstructured LC devices, covering their fundamental properties, key degrees of freedom, and primary strategies for tunable optical field control. It focuses on three core research directions: linear optical control in LC‐based waveguides, nonlinear manipulation via spatial optical solitons, and lasing in LC microdroplets. A central theme is the unique ability of LC systems to transcend the geometric and functional constraints of conventional solid‐state photonics through dynamic, reconfigurable architectures. Looking forward, the field is poised for breakthroughs in multi‐field coupling mechanisms, the development of low‐loss, fast‐response LC materials, and practical applications in optical computing, adaptive optics, and beyond, thereby forging a vital bridge between fundamental optics and next‐generation integrated photonic technologies.