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Glassy Liquid Crystal Films as Broadband Polarizers and Reflectors via Spatially Modulated Photoracemization
Author(s) -
Chen S. H.,
Mastrangelo J. C.,
Jin R. J.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1521-4095(199910)11:14<1183::aid-adma1183>3.0.co;2-1
Subject(s) - materials science , polarizer , liquid crystal , broadband , bandwidth (computing) , polarization (electrochemistry) , temperature gradient , optics , optoelectronics , birefringence , computer network , chemistry , quantum mechanics , computer science , physics
Chiral‐nematic glassy liquid crystals (GLCs) are of interest because of their unique supramolecular structure and associated optical properties. However, the constant‐pitch films produced so far have a bandwidth limited to less than 100 nm in the visible. The introduction of a pitch gradient, indicated by theory to increase bandwidth, is reported here to be achieved by the generation of a pitch gradient in the mesomorphic fluid state and subsequent thermal quenching, freezing in the pitch gradient. An increase of polarization bandwidth by a factor of 2.4 was found.