Large Kerr effects in transparent encapsulated liquid crystals

Abstract

The encapsulation of liquid crystals in a polymer matrix produces a material with interesting and potentially useful optical properties. The earliest efforts generated a dispersed phase whose dimensions were comparable to optical wavelengths and therefore afforded materials which were highly scattering. These materials have already been found useful for display applications. We have found that when these materials are fabricated so that the dimensions of the dispersed phase are substantially smaller than the incident radiation wavelengths, the material is far less scattering. dc Kerr measurements on these liquid-crystal composites yield quite large values, ranging as high as 30 000 times CS2 This activity is shown to be a strong function of the liquid-crystal loading and the temperature.