Novel Reverse‐Mode Light Switching of (Pseudo Side‐Chain Liquid Crystalline Copolymer Resulting in Spontaneous Homeotropic Alignment/Liquid Crystals) Composite System

A new reverse‐mode light switching (transparent and opaque in undriven and driven states, respectively) has been demonstrated for the binary composite system composed of a pseudo side‐chain liquid crystalline copolymer (pseudo‐LCcoP) resulting in spontaneous homeotropic alignment and low‐molecular‐weight liquid crystals (LCs). The cell with the spontaneous homeotropic alignment showed a transparent state due to a homeotropic anchoring of the pseudo‐LCcoP at the surfaces of glass substrates. On the other hand, when a dc electric field was applied, the composite film became opaque due to the fluctuation of smectic like short‐range order fragments being formed by the side chain part of the pseudo‐LCcoP and the LCs. This light scattering state may arise from electric hydrodynamic motion of the smectic layer based on an electric current effect.