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Polymer‐Stabilized Diffraction Gratings from Cholesteric Liquid Crystals
Author(s) -
Lee S. N.,
Chien L.C.,
Sprunt S.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
sid symposium digest of technical papers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.351
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2168-0159
pISSN - 0097-966X
DOI - 10.1889/1.1833893
Subject(s) - materials science , diffraction , cholesteric liquid crystal , liquid crystal , dopant , polymer , grating , diffraction efficiency , electric field , scanning electron microscope , optics , diffraction grating , optoelectronics , doping , composite material , physics , quantum mechanics
We report the use of a low concentration polymer network to stabilize electric field‐induced diffraction gratings in cholesteric liquid crystals. The stabilized gratings can be electrically switched between a zero‐field “on” state, which exhibits approximately 75% diffraction efficiency, and a moderate field (typically 3 V/micron) “off” state. Grating spacings between 1.7 and 30 microns are obtained in a 10 micron thick cell by variation of the concentration of chiral dopant used to form the cholesteric liquid crystal. Scanning electron micrograph indicates that morphology of polymer‐stabilized gratings is very uniform and highlyz oriented structure.