Photomodulating the spontaneous polarization of a ferroelectric liquid crystal phase using chiral thioindigo dopants

11 April 1997

proceedings article
Published by SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng

p. 16-20
https://doi.org/10.1117/12.271398

Abstract

The chiral thioindigo dye (R,R)-5,5'-dinitro-6,6'-bis(2- octyloxy)thioindigo has been synthesized in optically active form and doped into a racemic S_C liquid crystal host (x_d equals 0.028) to induce a ferroelectric S_C* phase. Irradiation of an aligned sample of this induced S_C* phase at (lambda) greater than 450 nm produces a cis- enriched photostationary state of the dopant, and an increase in the spontaneous polarization of the S_C* phase by a factor of 1.8. This modulation is reversible via thermal relaxation of the dopant to the trans-form.

Keywords

LIQUID CRYSTAL
LIQUID CRYSTALS
OPTICAL ACTIVITY
POLARIZATION
MODULATION

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