Observation of conical scattering cones from a two-dimensional hexagonal photonic crystal based on a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal

We explore axial scattering from a two-dimensional hexagonal photonic crystal based on a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal at normal incidence. The scattering reveals symmetric cones over a range of frequencies. The observed cones disperse strongly outward, and their radii are determined by the wavelength of the probe beam. Such cones are generated by the coupling of forward-scattered beams of the refracted beams and the refracted beams themselves under momentum conservation.