Electric field tunable strong transverse light current from nanoparticles embedded in liquid crystal

We present an exact solution to the problem of electromagnetic scattering by nanosphere clusters embedded in a liquid crystal cell, based on the Mie theory. The dependence of the scattering property on the structure parameters is investigated in detail. It is shown that strong transverse light currents at the optical frequency can be obtained from these complex structures. Furthermore, we find that sign reversal of the transverse light current can be realized by changing frequency and voltage. The physical origins of these phenomena have been analyzed. The transverse light current for subwavelength nanoscale dimensions is of practical significance. Thus, the application of these phenomena to optical devices is anticipated.