Freedericksz transition in polymer-stabilized nematic liquid crystals

Biomimetic Solid-Liquid Transition Structural Dye-Doped Liquid Crystal/Phase-Change-Material Microcapsules Designed for Wearable Bistable Electrochromic Fabric

A novel polymer microcapsule-filled dye-doped liquid crystal (DDLC) and phase-change material (PCM) system inspired by biological materials was first proposed, which was further encapsulated into a calcium alginate substrate by wet spinning for making an electrochromic fiber with both bistable electric-optical capability and knitting characteristics. Results show that the optical appearance of the optimized microcapsules and fiber can be reversibly changed between colored and colorless states according to the electric field by switching the DDLCs between isotropic (I) and anisotropic (A) states. Moreover, both I and A states can remain stable for more than 1 week after removing the electric field, due to the synergy of the greatly increased spatial hindrance of the PCM with core loading of 22.58% and the confinement effect from the polymer microcapsule shell material. Aside from the long-term optical stability, the high content of the densely packed DDLCs also endows the electrochromic fiber with a satisfactory driving voltage of 9.7 V, which is below the human safe voltage, showing great potential in a wide range of applications, such as flexible displays, energy-saving smart windows, and wearable advanced textiles.

Effect of Ion Concentration on the Electro-Optic Response in Polymer-Stabilized Cholesteric Liquid Crystals

We have previously reported that the application of a DC field can adjust the position and/or bandwidth of the selective reflection notch in polymer-stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals (PSCLCs). The proposed mechanism of these electro-optic (EO) response is ion-facilitated electromechanical deformation of the polymer stabilizing network. Accordingly, the concentration of ions trapped within the polymer network should considerably influence the EO response of PSCLC. Our prior studies have indicated that photoinitiators can increase ion density in PSCLC by an order of magnitude. Here, we isolate the contribution of ionic impurities associated with liquid crystal monomers (LCMs) by utilizing initiator-less polymerization. PSCLCs prepared with LCM with low ion concentration show bandwidth broadening of the reflection band whereas PSCLCs prepared with LCM with high ion concentration exhibit a red shifting tuning of the reflection band. The extent of the tuning or bandwidth broadening of the CLC reflection band depends on the concentration of LCMs and the chirality of the LCM.

Dye-Doped Electrically Smart Windows Based on Polymer-Stabilized Liquid Crystal

Here we report the fabrication of dye-doped polymer-stabilized liquid crystals (PSLC)-based smart windows. The effect of dye doping on PSLC contrast was investigated. Non-dichroic dye tints the PSLC sample in both off- and on-state, which is not beneficial for increasing its off/on contrast. The sample doped with dichroic dye shows a slight color in the off-state and strong color in the on-state, resulting in an enhanced contrast, which attributed to orientation dependent absorption of dichroic dyes. Furthermore, we blended non-dichroic dye and dichroic dye who have complementary absorption together into PSLC mixture. The sample is almost colorless in the off-state due to the subtractive process, while colored in the on-state. The contrast is further enhanced. The results show that the proposed multi-dye-doped PSLC device has high visual contrast and fast response time, making it attractive for applications in light management and architectural aesthetics.

Process for a Reactive Monomer Alignment Layer for Liquid Crystals Formed on an Azodye Sublayer

In this work, the detailed studies of surface polymerization stabilizing liquid crystal formed on an azodye sublayer are presented. The surface localized stabilization is obtained by free-radical polymerization of a dilute solution of a bi-functional reactive monomer (RM) in a liquid crystal (LC) solvent. To optimize the process for surface localized stabilization, we investigate the effects of several process parameters including RM concentration in LC hosts, the types of materials (either RM or LC), the photo-initiator (PI) concentration, ultra-violet (UV) polymerization intensity, and the UV curing temperature. The quality of surface localized stabilization is characterized and/or evaluated by optical microscopy, electro-optical behavior (transmission/voltage curve), the life test, and photo-bleaching. Our results show that, by carefully selecting materials, formulating mixtures, and controlling the polymerizing variables, the RM polymerization can be realized either at the surface or through the bulk. Overall, the combination of surface localized stabilization and photo-alignment offers an elegant and dynamic solution for controlling the alignment for LC, which could play a profound role in almost all liquid crystal optical devices.

Photo-Polymerization in Chiral Dopant Liquid Crystal Cells via Holographic Exposure to Fabricate Polarization-Independent Phase Modulator with Fast Optical Response

Small liquid crystal domains with random director distributions were obtained to show novel optical isotropy using a holographic exposure processes to treat chiral dopant liquid crystal cells in the isotropic phase (i.e., polymer-stabilized isotropic liquid crystal cells). The cells used to fabricate phase modulators showed unique performances, including low light scattering, polarization-independence, and fast optical response. Furthermore, an extra fluoro-surfactant dopant in cells showed that the phase modulators retained their performance but with considerable reduction of operating voltages, from 180 Vrms to 100 Vrms.

Stabilized electrically induced Helfrich deformation and enhanced color tuning in cholesteric liquid crystals

When subjected to an AC electric field perpendicular to its layers, the cholesteric planar state may undergo a periodic layer undulation, known as the Helfrich deformation, which generates a color change of the reflected light. The Helfrich deformation of regular cholesteric liquid crystals is, however, unstable and easily taken over by the focal conic state, and thus the color tuning range is narrow. We demonstrated that the Helfrich deformation can be stabilized in a large electric field region by doping a bent dimer with an anomalously small bend elastic constant and dispersing a small amount of polymer network. By varying the dimer concentration, we were able to systematically change the bend elastic constant and thus verify the theoretical prediction of the undulation threshold electric field and periodicity. We also achieved reflectance tuning with electric field less than 2 V μm^-1 and color tuning covering the entire visible light region with electric field as low as 4 V μm^-1.

Influence of virtual surfaces on Frank elastic constants in a polymer-stabilized bent-core nematic liquid crystal

Effect of a polymer network on the threshold voltage of the Fréedericksz transition, Frank elastic constants, switching speed, and the rotational viscosity are investigated in a polymer-stabilized bent-core nematic liquid crystal with different polymer concentrations. These polymer networks form virtual surfaces with a finite anchoring energy. The studies bring out several differences in comparison to similar studies with a calamitic liquid crystal as the nematic host. For example, on varying the polymer content the threshold voltage decreases initially, but exhibits a drastic increase above a critical concentration. A similar feature-reaching a minimum before rising-is seen for the bend elastic constant, which gets enhanced by an order of magnitude for a polymer content of 2.5 wt %. In contrast, the splay elastic constant has a monotonic variation although the overall enhancement is comparable to that of the bend elastic constant. The behavior changing at a critical concentration is also seen for the switching time and the associated rotational viscosity. The presence of the polymer also induces a shape change in the thermal dependence of the bend elastic constant. We explain the features observed here on the basis of images obtained from the optical and atomic force microscopy.

Photosensitivity of reflection notch tuning and broadening in polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals

The position or bandwidth of the selective reflection of polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals (PSCLCs) prepared from negative dielectric anisotropy ("-Δε") liquid crystalline hosts can be shifted by applying a DC voltage. The underlying mechanism of the tuning or broadening of the reflection of PSCLCs detailed in these recent efforts is ion-facilitated, electromechanical deformation of the structurally chiral, polymer stabilizing network in the presence of a DC bias. Here, we show that these electro-optic responses can also be photosensitive. The photosensitivity is most directly related to the presence of photoinitiator, which is a known ionic contaminant to liquid crystal devices. Measurement of the ion density of a series of control compositions before, during, and after irradiation with UV light confirms that the ion density in compositions that exhibit photosensitivity is increased by irradiation and correlates to not only the concentration of the photoinitiator but also the type. Thus, the magnitude of the electrically tuned or broadened reflection of PSCLC of certain compositions when subjected to DC field is further increased in the presence of UV light. While interesting and potentially useful in applications such as architectural windows, the effect may be deleterious to some device implementations. Accordingly, compositions in which photosensitivity is not observed are identified.

Mechanism of electrically induced photonic band gap broadening in polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals with negative dielectric anisotropies

We experimentally observed that the photonic band gap (reflection band) of polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals with negative dielectric anisotropies can be greatly broadened under DC electric fields. We explored the underlying mechanism. We found that the dispersed polymer network moved when DC voltages were applied across the liquid crystal cell. The motion of the polymer network stretched the helical pitch of the liquid crystal on one side of the cell and compressed the helical pitch on the other side of the cell. We proposed a phenomenological theory to explain the motion of the polymer network and the effect of the polymer network on the helical pitch, and this theoretical prediction agreed well with the experimental results.

Bistable cholesteric liquid crystal light shutter with multielectrode driving

An electrically activated bistable light shutter that exploits polymer-stabilized cholesteric liquid crystal film was developed. Under double-sided three-terminal electrode driving, the device can be bistable and switched between focal conic and homeotropic textures with a uniform in-plane and vertical electrical field. The transparent state with a transmittance of 80% and the opaque/scattering state with a transmittance of 13% can be realized without any optical compensation film, and each can be simply switched to the other by applying a pulse voltage. Also, gray-scale selection can be performed by varying the applied voltage. The designed energy-saving bistable light shutter can be utilized to preserve privacy and control illumination and the flow of energy.

Impact of the concentration in polymer on the dynamic behavior of Polymer Stabilized Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal using Snap-shot Mueller Matrix Polarimetry

Experimental results are presented related to the dynamic behaviour of Polymer Stabilized Ferro-electric Liquid Crystal (PSFLC) samples under external applied electric field, using Snap-shot Mueller Matrix Polarimetry (SMMP) and Mueller Matrix (MM) formalism. Different polarimetric coefficients are simultaneously extracted from each channeled spectrum measured with this full-optical SMMP technique. The impact of the concentration of polymer present into the liquid crystal cell on this dynamic behaviour is studied, permitting a direct and quick characterisation of the material. The results obtained for PSFLC are compared with those already measured for pure Surface Stabilized Ferro-electric Liquid Crystal (SSFLC) samples, which correspond to a 0% concentration in polymer.

All-optical and polarization-independent spatial filter based on a vertically-aligned polymer-stabilized liquid crystal film with a photoconductive layer

An all-optical and polarization-independent spatial filter was developed in a vertically-aligned (VA) polymer-stabilized liquid crystal (PSLC) film with a photoconductive (PC) layer. This spatial filter is based on the effect of light on the conductivity of PC layer: high (low)-intensity light makes the conductivity of the PC layer high (low), resulting in a low (high) threshold voltage of the PC-coated VA PSLC cell. Experimental results indicate that this spatial filter is a high-pass filter with low optical-power consumption (about 1.11 mW/cm(2)) in an optical Fourier transform system. The high-pass characteristic was confirmed by simulation. Accordingly, the all-optical and polarization-independent spatial filter can be used to enhance the edges of images.

Effect of the network density on dynamics of the soft and the Goldstone modes in short-pitch ferroelectric liquid crystals stabilized by an anisotropic polymer network

We report the influence of the polymer network density formed in short-pitch ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) on the soft and the Goldstone dielectric relaxation modes. The experimental results of the pure FLC and the FLC stabilized by a polymer network with various densities are presented and compared. These results reveal that in the SmC;{ *} phase, when the polymer concentration increases, the Goldstone dielectric strength gradually decreases and the relaxation frequency is shifted to higher values. In the SmA;{ *} phase, the results show that close to the SmC;{ *}-SmA;{ *} transition temperature, T_{c} , the soft relaxation mode is largely influenced by the polymer network: a sharp decrease in the dielectric strength and an increase in the relaxation frequency when the polymer density increases were observed. The soft mode is relatively weakly affected by the network for higher temperatures (T> or =T_{c}+0.5 degrees C) . This indicates that the behavior of the soft mode for this temperature domain is dominated rather by thermal effects than by the network. A simple phenomenological approach was proposed to explain the behavior of the soft-mode dielectric strength versus polymer concentration. This model takes into account the anisotropic interaction between the polymer network and the liquid crystal, and the elastic interaction resulting from the anchoring of the liquid crystal molecules at the polymer surfaces. The experimental results are in agreement with the proposed model.

Electroclinic effect in a chiral smectic-A liquid crystal stabilized by an anisotropic polymer network

We have studied the effect of an anisotropic polymer network on the coupling of molecular tilt to applied electric field in the chiral S{A} phase. The polymer network is formed from a photoreactive achiral monomer in a thin planar S{C}{*} cell. Experimental data, obtained from electro-optical measurements near to the S{A}-S{c}{*} transition temperature, T{c} , of the induced molecular tilt, switching time, as well as induced polarization as a function of temperature and electric field strength are presented. The results clearly show that, close to T{c} , the electroclinic effect is largely controlled by the polymer network. The experimental results are discussed in the framework of a simple phenomenological model, extended from the Landau model, which includes the bulk free energy arising from the anisotropic interaction between the polymer network and the liquid crystal director, and the elastic free energy resulting from the anchoring (supposed rigid) of the liquid crystal molecules at the polymer boundaries.

Distortion and unwinding of the helical structure in polymer-stabilized short-pitch ferroelectric liquid crystal

We report the effect of an anisotropic polymer network formed from an achiral photoreactive monomer in a short-pitch chiral SmC* phase on the distortion and the unwinding of the helical structure of the ferroelectric phase. The electro-optical behaviour and ferroelectric properties were experimentally determined for films containing various polymer concentrations. The critical field, E(u), for the transition from the distorted structure to the homogeneous state was measured as a function of polymer concentration. A linear increase of E(u) versus polymer concentration was observed, showing that the helical structure of the short-pitch SmC* phase was stabilized by the polymer network. This behaviour was expected to be a consequence of the increase of the apparent elastic constants of the ferroelectric liquid crystal stabilized by the anisotropic polymer network films. The polymer network morphology was investigated using atomic-force microscopy, revealing a twisted structure of the polymer fibers. This twisted structure was transferred onto a polymer network during the polymerization process within a short-pitch SmC* phase. The increase of the apparent elasticity can then be interpreted by a strong interaction between polymer network and the liquid-crystal molecules. From our experimental data, the coupling coefficient, W(p), characterizing this interaction was evaluated for all studied polymer concentrations.