Photoinduced Nematic – Cholesteric Structural Transitions in Liquid Crystal Cells with Homeotropic Anchoring

Abstract

By doping a nematic liquid crystal with two chiral agents of opposite handedness and distinctly different spectral ranges of molecular absorption a photoinduced structural transition from the nematic (non-helical) to cholesteric (helical) state was realized, as well as a transition between two cholesteric states with the opposite handedness. This finding extends our knowledge about formation of cholesteric structures and opens new horizons for application of cholesteric liquid crystals.