Fine droplets of liquid crystals in a transparent polymer and their response to an electric field

Abstract

Fine droplets of nematic liquid crystal (LC) with a diameter less than 100 nm were obtained in ultraviolet curing polymers. The transparency of the material was kept high in the infrared regions because there was little scattering in comparison to materials containing much larger droplets. The fine droplets were found to respond to an electric field, causing a change in birefringence. This change was about 0.0004 at the applied voltage of 5.5 V/μm. The special features of low transmission loss and easy film formation will enable one to apply LCs to optical devices of the wave guide type.