This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 10125, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, Introduction, and Conference Committee listing.

Liquid crystal (LC) phase transition dynamics can be used as a powerful tool to control the assembly of dispersed nanoparticles. Tailored mesogenic ligands can both enhance and tune particle dispersion in the liquid crystal phase to create liquid crystal nano-composites - a novel type of material. Soft nanocomposites have recently risen to prominence for their potential usage in a variety of industrial applications such as photovoltaics, photonic materials, and the liquid crystal laser. Our group has developed a novel phase-transition-templating process for the generation of micron-scale, vesicle-like nanoparticle shells stabilized by mesogenic ligand-ligand interactions. The mesogenic ligand’s flexible arm structure enhances ligand alignment with the local LC director, providing control over the dispersion and stabilization of nanoparticles in liquid crystal phases. In this paper we explore the capsule formation process in detail, generating QD-based capsules over a surprisingly wide range of radii. We demonstrate that the initial nanoparticle concentration and cooling rate are important parameters influencing capsule size. By increasing particle concentration of nanoparticles and reducing the cooling rate we developed large shells up to 96±19 μm in diameter whereas decreasing concentration and increasing the cooling rate produces shells as small as 4±1 μm.

Topological defects in liquid crystals (LCs) have been widely used to organize colloidal dispersions and template polymerizations, leading to a range of elastomers and gels with complex mechanical and optical properties. However, little is understood about molecular-level assembly processes within defects. This presentation will describe an experimental study that reveals that nanoscopic environments defined by LC topological defects can selectively trigger processes of molecular self-assembly. By using fluorescence microscopy, cryogenic transmission electron microscopy and super-resolution optical microscopy, key signatures of molecular self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules in topological defects are observed - including cooperativity, reversibility, and controlled growth of the molecular assemblies. By using polymerizable amphiphiles, we also demonstrate preservation of molecular assemblies templated by defects, including nanoscopic “o-rings” synthesized from “Saturn-ring” disclinations. Our results reveal that topological defects in LCs are a versatile class of three-dimensional, dynamic and reconfigurable templates that can direct processes of molecular self-assembly in a manner that is strongly analogous to other classes of macromolecular templates (e.g., polymer—surfactant complexes). Opportunities for the design of exquisitely responsive soft materials will be discussed using bacterial endotoxin as an example.

Topological defects in nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) are attracting attention in recent years for generating optical vortex beams. In most cases, complex defects structures are stabilized by pre-patterned surfaces and spontaneous control with reconfigurability is not so successfully realized. Here, we use NLCs with negative dielectric anisotropy doped with a small quantity of ionic impurity confined between perfluoropolymer surfaces. Without using a template, a large number of topological defects are stabilized by the reorientation of the NLCs using an AC voltage, which is caused by a periodic density modulation of ions at the perfluoropolymer interfaces. Due to the reconfigurable property of the system, the uniform monodomain can be obtained by several methods, for example, an infrared laser and a weak shear flow. Our results offer a new approach for stabilizing multiple topological defects.

We have succeeded in fabricating unusually thick (up to ~ 550 microns), well aligned cholesteric liquid crystals that possess low scattering loss, large operating temperature range and well-defined photonic bandgap in the visible - near infrared regime. These CLC’s possess sufficiently large ultrafast (sub-picosecond) electronic optical nonlinearity needed for direct compression, stretching and recompression of femtoseconds-picoseconds laser pulses without additional optics, as demonstrated by theory and experiments. Despite such world-record setting thickness, these CLC’s are extremely compact in comparison to other state-of-the-art materials/devices used for similar operations. They are therefore highly promising for miniaturization and reduced complexity of photonic platform/systems for ultrafast pulse modulations.

The scientists in the field of liquid crystal (LC) have paid significant attention in the exploration of novel cholesteric LC (CLC) polymer template (simply called template) in recent years. The self-assembling nanostructural template with chirality can effectively overcome the limitation in the optical features of traditional CLCs, such as enhancement of reflectivity over 50%, multiple photonic bandgaps (PBGs), and changeable optical characteristics by flexibly replacing the refilling LC materials, and so on. This work fabricates two gradient-pitched CLC templates with two opposite handednesses, which are then merged as a spatially tunable and highly reflective CLC template sample. This sample can simultaneously reflect right- and left-circularly polarized lights and the tunable spectral range includes the entire visible region. By increasing the temperature of the template sample exceeding the clearing point of the refilling LC, the light scattering significantly decreases and the reflectance effectively increase to exceed 50% in the entire visible region. This device has a maximum reflectance over 85% and a wide-band spatial tunability in PBG between 400 nm and 800 nm which covers the entire visible region. Not only the sample can be employed as a wide-band spatially tunable filter, but also the system doping with two suitable laser dyes which emitted fluorescence can cover entire visible region can develop a low-threshold, mirror-less laser with a spatial tunability at spectral regions including blue to red region (from 484 nm to 634 nm) and simultaneous lasing emission of left- and right-circular polarizations.

It is well known that topological defects of a liquid crystal can trap colloidal particles and polymers. However, it remains unclear whether low-molecular-weight (LMW) non-LC molecules can aggregate at topological defects, because entropy towards uniform distributions becomes more dominant for smaller molecules. We show by a simple theoretical argument that topological defects indeed give rise to non-uniform distributions of such LMW guest molecules. The relaxation of the high free energy density of topological defects by the presence of LMW guest molecules is strong enough to overcome the contribution of entropy. We briefly discuss the relevance of our theoretical arguments to experiments.

Anchoring effects on the polymer films in the liquid crystal (LC) display devices plays key role to create the restoring force to the black state. However, the chiral materials with spontaneous helix, such as deformed helix mode in SmC* (DH-FLC) or the polymer stabilized blue phase (PSChBP), can recover black state by rewinding motion of the helix itself. We have invented the principle and design of slippery interfaces, which has zero anchoring force for attached LC molecules on the interfaces, and confirmed the drastic reduction of driving voltage in DH-FLC mode of SmC* (<1 order) keeping the fast switching response (tau~50 micro sec). We have reported the lateral slippery interfaces consist of the phase separated liquid phases created by tran-cis isomerization of doped azo dye. It is not enough to the complete transmission of the light(I/I0~1) by applying the typical driving voltage (~1.0V/micro m) for current IPS panels. It is also problem that slippery interface become effective only just below the I-SmC phase transition temperature (TIC-T<20°). Here, we report new type of the vertical slippery interface realized by the spin coated swollen azo-LC gel films on the glass substrates. Under UV irradiation, trans-cis isomerization of the azo-dye co-polymerized in the azo-LC gel film, induces the vertical slippery interfaces by the disordering effect. Since the co-polymerized azo-dye cannot be dissolved into LC, the disordering effect is completely localized in the interface between swollen azo-LC gel and bulk SmC* material. Then the slippery interfaces can be stabilized over wide temperature range. We greatly improve the reduction of the driving voltage, I/Io=1, 1.0V/micro m for rather slow change of the driving voltage (tau~1msec 2.5msec pulse), I/I0=0.6, 1.5V/micro m for fast change (tau~50 micro sec, 250 micro sec pulse) by lubrication of intra and inter helix C-director rotation motions.

Liquid crystalline semiconductor is an interesting category of organic electronic materials and also has been extensively studied in terms of "Printed Electronics". For the wider diversity in research toward new applications, one can consider how to use a combination of miscibility and phase separation in liquid crystals. Here we report discotic liquid crystals in making a composite of which structural order is controlled in nano-scale toward photovoltaic applications. Discotic columnar LCs were studied on their resultant molecular order and carrier transport properties. Liquid crystals of phthalocyanine and its analogues which exhibit columnar mesomorphism with high carrier mobility (10-1 cm2/Vs) were examined with making binary phase diagrams and the correlation to carrier transport properties by TOF measurements was discussed. The shape-analogues in chemical structure shows a good miscibility even for the different lattice-type of columnar arrangement and the carrier mobility is mostly decrease except for a case of combination with a metal-free and the metal complex. For the mixtures with non-mesogenic C60 derivatives, one sees a phase-separated structure due to its immiscibility, though the columnar order is remained in a range of component ratio.Especially, in a range of the ratio, it was observed the phase separated C60 derivatives are fused into the matrix of columnar bundles, indicating C60 derivatives could be diffused in columnar arrays in molecular level.

We report the in situ creation of reactive polymer nanoparticles and resulting polymer networks formed at the interfaces of liquid crystals. It is known that polymerization-induced phase separation proceeds in two distinct regimes depending on the concentration of monomer. For a high monomer concentration, phase separation occurs mainly through the spinodal decomposition process, consequently resulting in interpenetrating polymer networks. For a dilute system, however, the phase separation mainly proceeds and completes in the binodal decomposition regime. The system resembles the aggregation process of colloidal particle. In this case, the reaction kinetics is limited by the reaction between in situ created polymer aggregates and hence the network morphologies are greatly influenced by the diffusion of reactive polymer particles. The thin polymer layers localized at the surface of substrate are inevitably observed and can be comprehended by the interfacial adsorption and further cross-linking reaction of reactive polymer aggregates at the interface. This process provides a direct perception on understanding polymer stabilized liquid crystals accomplished by the interfacial polymer layer. The detailed study has been performed for an extremely dilute condition (below 0.5 wt%) by employing systematic experimental approaches. Creation and growth of polymer nanoparticles have been measured by particle size analyzer. The interfacial localization of polymer aggregates and resulting interfacial layer formation with a tens of nanometer scale have been exploited at various interfaces such as liquid-solid, liquid-liquid, and liquid-gas interfaces. The resulting interfacial layers have been characterized by using fuorescent confocal microscope and field emission scanning electron microscope. The detailed processes of the polymer stabilized vertically aligned liquid crystals will be discussed in support of the reported study.

Polymers that can change shape or surface topography in response to a trigger have a wide application potential varying from micro-robotics to avionics. Preferably this morphing proceeds fast and reversibly. We developed new morphing principles based on in-situ photopolymerized liquid crystal networks and on hybrid low molecular weight liquid crystals and liquid crystal networks. Commonly the triggers are temperature, light, pH or the presence of chemicals or other moisture. In the lecture we will focus on UV actuation and demonstrate that by accurate positioning of molecules over all three dimensions of a thin film or coating, the deformation figures can be pre-engineered. They can vary from simple gratings to very complex such as fingerprints that can be switched between off (flat surface) and on (corrugated surface) by light. The underlying principles are based on photo-induced changes in the degree of order of liquid crystal polymer networks and the accompanying changes in density by the formation of free volume. The surfaces can be switched with frequencies of the order of 0.1 Hz. In the lecture we will discuss several methods to fabricate the responsive layers as well as some of the most eye-catching properties. Also the mechanism of free volume generation will be addressed in terms of molecular dynamics and resonance.

In this paper, we review some results on our recent studies on photo-induced phenomena of liquid crystals (LCs) by means of interfaces decorated with a photo-responsive azobenzene dendrimer (azo-dendrimer). The azo-dendrimer molecules doped in a LC are spontaneously segregated from bulk and adsorbed onto substrate/LC or solvent/LC interfaces, and their photo-isomerization can bring about the so-called anchoring transition, i.e. reversible switching between homeotropic and planar alignment states of the bulk LC, when exposed to UV/VIS light. In addition to photoinduced anchoring transition in a LC cell, several interesting photo-induced phenomena through the azo-dendrimerdecorated interfaces have been reported, such as photo-induced transformation of the interior topological structures of nematic, cholesteric and smectic droplets, photo-mechanical motion of the micro particles dispersed in a nematic matrix, and optical assistance of the athermal anchoring transition with the aid of a perfluoropolymer surface. In addition to such phenomena, we also discuss the conditions of such photo-responsive interfaces in terms of the polar anchoring energy at the interface upon photo-isomerization under illumination of UV and/or VIS lights. The anisotropy of the polar anchoring energy was evaluated experimentally by means of Polarization Microscopy (POM), Dielectric Spectroscopy (DS), Second Harmonic Generation (SHG), and Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-IR) Spectroscopy, and theoretically based on the simple Rapini-Papoular model. We also demonstrate the continuous bulk orientation change by the photo-dynamic process through the fine control of the polar anchoring energy. Besides, the state-of-the-art video-rate atomic force microscopy (ν-AFM) was carried out to visualize the dynamics of such interfaces at a nano-meter scale.

A switchable-focus lenticular microlens array (LMA) is an essential component for switchable 2D/3D displays. For 2D display, the LMA has no optical power and it functions as an optical flat plate. To achieve 3D display, each microlens in the array has a focusing effect. Various approaches for preparing LMAs were demonstrated. In this report, we mainly introduce two types of LMAs: polymeric LMA and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)/dibutyl phthalate (DBP) LMA. The polymeric LMA is optically anisotropic and solidified. When it integrates with a twisted-nematic liquid crystal (TN LC) polarized rotator, a switchable focus with a low driving voltage and fast response time can be obtained. As a comparison, the PVC/DBP LMA is optically isotropic and adaptive. Its focal length can be largely changed by reconfiguring its surface profile using a DC voltage. Both LMAs have the merits of compact structure, simple fabrication, and good optical performance. The operation mechanism of each LMA is introduced and their performances are evaluated. They both have potential applications in switchable 2D/3D displays.

The development of high performance and large area photoresponsive materials for hologram have been one of the great challenges in order to realize holographic 3D display technology which needs no special eyewear. Desirable hologram materials should provide the high diffraction efficiency, fast response, high resolution, stable and reversible storage, low-energy consuming in the recording and reading processes as well as easy mass production. Azobenzene-containing polymers has been recognized as one of the promising candidate materials for holography because they can modulate effectively due to the photosensitivity and reversibility of azo moieties. In addition, polymer systems have several advantages such as simple fabrication, flexibility, thermal stability, and large scale production. It has been reported that highly birefringent azotolan-containing liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) film can induce a large change in refractive index upon exposure to actinic light. Analogously, we prepared new photochromic polymers based on the polymerisable liquid crystalline acrylate monomers (RMs) containing azo and highly birefringent diphenyldiacetylen (DPDA) mesogenic units connected directly. Evaluation of new polymers for rewritable hologram media will be discussed.

Nonlinear optical properties of colloids have technological appeal, since nanoparticles with nonlinear optical properties can be combined with the fluidity of liquid carriers, in the emerging area of Optofluidics. Ferrofluids, especially, can be used in magnetically-controllable applications or in optical limiting devices, where nonlinear absorption is a key characteristic. Besides two-photon absorption, some phenomena are present in experimental studies in optical nonlinearities of colloids: the particles can absorb light and heat the liquid around it, giving rise to a temperature and a subsequent refractive index gradient, what originates a thermo-optical self-focusing; also, the temperature gradient can drive the particles inward or outward the illuminated region, what changes the refractive index and the absorption coefficient of the material. In this work, the z-scan technique is performed in ferrofluids and thin films made from ferrofluids to measure the two-photon absorption coefficient of magnetite and manganese ferrite nanoparticles and to determine their two-photon absorption cross-section (σ2PA). To avoid the influence of the cited thermo-optical effects in these measurements, the frequency of the pulsed Gaussian beam (pulse width of 196 fs) is decreased with an electro-optic modulator and a shutter is used to allow the measurement of the nonlinear effects, present at the first pulse illuminating the sample, after a period of 2 seconds without illumination. The z-scan curves with and without using shutter are compared in colloids and thin films. The achieved values of σ2PA at 800 nm are 50 GM and 107 GM, for the magnetite and manganese ferrite nanoparticles, respectively.

We report about the implementation of the 10Megapixel phase-only liquid crystal on silicon spatial light modulator for the visible and short-wave infrared spectral bands. The pixel pitch of the SLM is less than 4 micron. Experimental data for diffraction efficiency, reflectivity, phase response, flatness and temporal noises is provided.

A liquid crystal (LC) cell behaves as an optically uniaxial crystal and lateral shear properties can be obtained under considerably low voltage, because an oblique optical axis distribution state appears in the middle voltage level between ON and OFF. In this work, a pair of twisted nematic (TN) LC cells is introduced to the normal polarization microscope system to implement differential interference contrast (DIC) imaging, which is a powerful observation tool for weak phase samples such as a bio cell. DIC imaging is usually obtained using a pair of Nomarski prisms, which are inserted at the back focal plane of the objective and condenser lenses to separate and combine the input image laterally. However, if we use LC cells, DIC images can be easily obtained by just sandwiching the test sample between a pair of LC cells. The lateral shear distance, which influences DIC sensitivity, becomes tunable with fast response speed by using LC cells, although the shear distance is fixed in the normal DIC system. Furthermore, unique lateral shearing properties of the TN cell help in achieving self-compensation of optical retardation, and we can then use the incoherent illumination of a normal microscope system for DIC observation as usual. Here, fundamental lateral shearing properties and the operational mode for DIC imaging are investigated using a pair of TN cells.

We present a simple and flexible method of generating various vectorial vortex beams (VVBs) based on the scheme of double modulations from a single liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM). In this configuration, a half-wave plate (HWP) placed in front of the SLM is first used to control the weights of linear polarization components of incident light. Then, we respectively encode two orbital angular momentum (OAM) eigenstates displayed on each half of the SLM onto each of the linear components of light. This yields the generation of VVB fields spanned by a pair of linearly polarized OAM eigenstates. In order to convert polarization bases from the linear pair into another orthogonal pair, a quarter-wave plate (QWP) placed behind the SLM is used. This enables us to generate VVBs spanned by any pair of orthogonally polarized OAM eigenstates. Generally, the light states of polarization (SOP) can be presented as a geodesic path located on the plane perpendicular to the axis connecting the pair of bases used on the Poincaré sphere. The light property is adjustable depending on both slow axes of HWP and QWP, as well as via computer generated holograms. To validate generated beams, two measurement procedures are subsequently applied. First, Stokes polarimetry is used to measure the light SOP over the transverse plane. Next, a Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensor is used to measure the OAM charge. Both the simulated and experimental results are shown to be in a good qualitative agreement. In addition, both polarization patterns and OAM charges can be controlled independently using the proposed method.

Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are composed of two glass substrates, two polarizers and some optical films. These components are laminated by pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs). When a polarizer shrinks by humidity or the heat from a backlight of LCDs, stress appears and deforms PSAs. PSAs tend to exhibit birefringence due to applied stress and temperature change, which causes light leakage degrading image quality of LCDs. PSAs are consisted of main chain polymers and cross-linkers. To evaluate birefringence of PSAs at room temperature is difficult because PSAs easily plastically deform at the temperature. The purpose of this article is to design temperature-independent zero-birefringence PSAs (TIZBPSAs) exhibiting almost no birefringence even during stress-induced deformation over a wide temperature range. Butyl acrylate (BA) and phenoxyethyl acrylate (PHEA) were selected as the monomers of main chain polymers and an isocyanate-type cross-linker was added. Trilaminar films were prepared in which PSAs were sandwiched between two supporting films. We successfully evaluated birefringence and temperature dependence of birefringence of PSAs for the first time by using temperature-independent zero-birefringence polymers (TIZBPs) as the supporting films. TIZBPs, designed in our group, show almost no orientational birefringence even when the polymer main chain is in an oriented state and almost no temperature dependence of orientational birefringence over a wide temperature range. We have proposed a novel method to design PSAs having desirable the birefringence properties by determining the contributions of BA, PHEA and the cross-linker to birefringence and temperature dependence of PSAs quantitatively. Furthermore, we have designed TIZBPSAs by the proposed method.

With increase in global warming, use of active cooling and heating devices are continuously increasing to maintain interior temperature of built environment, greenhouses and cars. To reduce the consumption of tremendous amount of energy on cooling and heating devices we need an improved control of transparent features (i.e. windows). In this respect, smart window which is capable for reflecting solar infrared energy without interfering with the visible light would be very attractive. Most of the technologies developed so far are to control the visible light. These technologies block visual contact to the outside world which cause negative effects on human health. An appealing method to selectively control infrared transmission is via utilizing the reflection properties of cholesteric liquid crystals. In our research, we have fabricated a smart window which is capable of reflecting different amount of solar infrared energy depending on the specific climate conditions. The reflection bandwidth can be tuned from 120 nm to 1100 nm in the infrared region without interfering with the visible solar radiations. Calculations reveal that between 8% and 45% of incident solar infrared light can be reflected with a single cell. Simulation studies predicted that more than 12% of the energy spent on heating, cooling and lighting in the built environment can be saved by using the fabricated smart window compared to standard double glazing window.

The polygonal texture in cholesteric liquid crystals consist in an array of contiguous polygonal cells. The optical response and the structure of polygonal texture are investigated in the cuticle of beetle Chrysina gloriosa and in synthetic oligomer films. In the insect carapace, the polygons are concave and behave as spherical micro-mirrors whereas they are convex and behave as diverging microlenses in synthetic films. The characteristics of light focusing (spot, donut or continuum background) are highly tunable with the wavelength and the polarization of the incident light.

A new type of tunable Fresnel deflector and lens composed of liquid crystal was developed. Combined structure of multiple interdigitated electrodes and the high-resistivity (HR) layer implements the saw-tooth distribution of electrical potential with only the planar surfaces of the transparent substrates. According to the numerical calculation and design, experimental devices were manufactured with the liquid crystal (LC) material sealed into the sandwiched flat glass plates of 0.7 mm thickness with rubbed alignment layers set to an anti-parallel configuration. Fabricated beam deflector with no moving parts shows the maximum tilt angle of ±1.3 deg which can apply for optical image stabilizer (OIS) of micro camera. We also discussed and verified their lens characteristics to be extended more advanced applications. Transparent interdigitated electrodes were concentrically aligned on the lens aperture with the insulator gaps under their boundary area. The diameter of the lens aperture was 30 mm and the total number of Fresnel zone was 100. Phase retardation of the beam wavefront irradiated from the LC lens device can be evaluated by polarizing microscope images with a monochromatic filter. Radial positions of each observed fringe are plotted and fitted with 2nd degree polynomial approximation. The number of appeared fringes is over 600 in whole lens aperture area and the correlation coefficients of all approximations are over 0.993 that seems enough ideal optical wavefront. The obtained maximum lens powers from the approximations are about ±4 m^-1 which was satisfied both convex and concave lens characteristics; and their practical use for the tunable lens grade eyeglasses became more prospective.

Liquid crystals over the last two decades have been successfully used to infiltrate fiber-optic and photonic structures initially including hollow-core fibers and recently micro-structured photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). As a result photonic liquid crystal fibers (PLCFs) have been created as a new type of micro-structured fibers that benefit from a merge of “passive” PCF host structures with “active” LC guest materials and are responsible for diversity of new and uncommon spectral, propagation, and polarization properties. This combination has simultaneously boosted research activities in both fields of Liquid Crystals Photonics and Fiber Optics by demonstrating that optical fibers can be more “special” than previously thought. Simultaneously, photonic liquid crystal fibers create a new class of fiber-optic devices that utilize unique properties of the photonic crystal fibers and tunable properties of LCs. Compared to „classical” photonic crystal fibers, PLCFs can demonstrate greatly improved control over their optical properties. The paper discusses the latest advances in this field comprising PLCFs that are based on nanoparticles-doped LCs. Doping of LCs with nanoparticles has recently become a common method of improving their optical, magnetic, electrical, and physical properties. Such a combination of nanoparticles-based liquid crystals and photonic crystal fibers can be considered as a next milestone in developing a new class of fiber-based optofluidic systems.

We demonstrate a liquid crystal Fresnel lens (LCFL) with a surface relief structure which has the binary switching property and the merit of low voltage driving. The surface relief structure is fabricated by photopolymerization of a polymer-precursor initiated by ultra-violet light onto a solid cylindrical Fresnel lens with desired optical power. A liquid crystal (LC) layer is sandwiched between a pair of polymer Fresnel lens deposited with planar alignment layers with orthogonal rubbing directions. The ordinary refractive index of LC is chose to be close to the refractive index of the polymer. At voltage-off state, when the polarization of light is parallel to the long axis of LC molecules, the refractive index mismatch of liquid crystals and polymer Fresnel lens enables the focusing of LCFL. At voltage-on state, the LCFL is a slab with homogenous refractive index because of the index matching between LC and polymer. With the benefit of twisted nematic structure, the voltage requirement is significantly low (~6V) for LCFL. The low-voltage binary beam shaping of laser and magnifying lens function using LCFL are experimentally demonstrated in this paper. Polarization-independent LCFL is achievable with a double-layered approach.

We report on the properties of a fast F/1.5 geometric-phase lens with a focal length of 37 mm at 633 nm and a 24.5 mm diameter. This lens employs photo-aligned liquid crystal layers to implement the spatially varying Pancharatnam-Berry phase, leading to the expected polarization- and wavelength-dependent focusing. An achromatic spectrum is achieved using (chiral nematic) multi-twist retarder coatings, with high first-order (≥98%) and low zero-order (≤1%) transmittance across 450-700 nm. We measure traditional optical metrics of the GP lens including focused spot profile and modulation transfer function through knife edge testing and NBS 1963a resolution charts. This work includes a comparison to similar F/# conventional thick and thin lenses.

Uniform lying Helix (ULH) is one of the most promising new LC modes for fast switching applications with alternative driving schemes such as FSC (field sequential colour). ULH operates via flexoelectric switching, unlike current commercially available liquid crystal modes that operate via dielectric switching. The realisation of mixtures with suitable flexoelectric properties requires unique materials composed of specially designed ´bi-mesogens´ and also the addition of a chiral dopant. Recent advances, updated mixture performance and other challenges such as alignment and driving for this new mode are discussed.

Herein, we report the enhancement of electro-optical performances of nanoparticle embedded liquid-crystal devices in the laser speckle pattern reduction, enhancement of viewing angle, and that of color gamut by doping the nano-particles(NPs) of PγCyclodixtrin-ZrO₂ (Shiraishi lab) and Aerosil R-812(EVONIK) into the liquid crystal devices. This report will be done through updating of previous work [1-4] in particular giving physical modeling and simulations.

We introduce a method for achieving a short response time in homogeneously aligned liquid crystal cells by twodimensional confinement of LCs with virtual walls. When an electric field is applied to in-plane switching (IPS) and fringe-field switching (FFS) cells with interdigitated electrodes parallel to the LC alignment direction, virtual walls are built so that the switching speed can be increased several-fold. We also introduce an interdigitated pixel electrode structure with alternating tilts for a much wider viewing angle by aligning the LCs without a pretilt. In addition to a short response time and wide viewing angle, this device allows a much larger deviation of the LC alignment direction which is essential for mass production. Moreover, LCs with negative dielectric anisotropy can be used to minimize the transmittance decrease.

Block copolymer self-assembly is a candidate resolution enhancement technique for patterning at future technology nodes. The technology is based on the micro-phase separation of chemically immiscible (eg polar/apolar) block copolymers that contain etch contrast (eg. organic/inorganic) into regular patterns (eg. lamellar or cylindrical) with periodicities between 10 - 100 nm. One of the challenges that remain for the implementation of self-assembly in nanopatterning is extendibility of the technology to smaller features. In contrast to block copolymers, liquid crystals are able to self-assemble at the molecular length scale (1-10 nm). The current work reports on a liquid crystal with inherent etch contrast and its self-assembly behavior. A monodisperse oligo(dimethylsiloxane) liquid crystal is synthesized via hydrosilylation and characterized. The formation of a temperature dependent tilted smectic phase with a periodicity of approximately 3.0 nm is demonstrated via differential scanning calorimetry, polarized optical microscopy, and x-ray diffraction. The director tilt is highly dependent on temperature (20° - 70°), while the layer spacing is relatively temperature independent (2.99 - 3.03 nm). Finally, we show that the liquid crystal forms lamellar sheets in thin films.

We demonstrate the application of the nanostructured scaffold of BPIII as a resuable EO device that retains the BPIII ordering and sub-millisecond EO switching characteristics, that is, “EO-memory” of the original BPIII even after removal of the cholesteric blue phase liquid crystal (LC) and subsequent refilling with different nematic LCs. We also fabricate scaffolds mimicking the isotropic phase and cubic blue phase I (BPI) to demonstrate the versatility of our material system to nano-engineer EO-memory scaffolds of various structures. We envisage that this work will promote new experimental investigations of the mysterious BPIII and the development of novel device architectures and optically functional nanomaterials.

We propose a smart window using polymer-networked liquid crystals doped with push-pull azobenzene. Azobenzene is used to provide phase transition from the nematic to isotropic state through the trans-cis isomerization of azobenzene. When exposed to sunlight, the device switches from the opaque nematic phase to the transparent isotropic phase. Switching from the transparent to opaque state can be obtained through rapid cis-trans isomerization of push-pull azobenzene without sunlight exposure. The proposed device can reduce the transmittance of the incident sunlight during daytime, whereas it can scatter the incident light during the night for privacy.

Electro-optical effects in liquid crystals (LCs) have been widely utilized in many optical components and photonic devices, thanks to the anisotropic media that can be easily manipulated by an electric field to modulate the light. In general, dielectric heating in LC applications is negligible because their orientational dielectric relaxations occur at high frequencies. Here we focus on a dual-frequency LC characterized by its much lower relaxation frequency. The fieldinduced heat strongly affects the LC ordering and optical properties. The electrothermo-optical effect reveals an unusual behavior compared with the well-known electro-optical effect in regular LCs. Based on the electrothermo-optical effect, some applications such as optical modulators or tunable optical shutters are demonstrated.

Recently, we reported direct current (DC) field controllable electro-optic (EO) responses of negative dielectric anisotropy polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals (PSCLCs). A potential mechanism is: Ions in the liquid crystal mixtures are trapped in/on the polymer network during the fast photopolymerization process, and the movement of ions by the application of the DC field distorts polymer network toward the negative electrode, inducing pitch variation through the cell thickness, i.e., pitch compression on the negative electrode side and pitch expansion on positive electrode side. As the DC voltage is directly applied to a target voltage, charged polymer network is deformed and the reflection band is tuned. Interestingly, the polymer network deforms further (red shift of reflection band) with time when constantly applied DC voltage, illustrating DC field induced time dependent deformation of polymer network (creep-like behavior). This time dependent reflection band changes in PSCLCs are investigated by varying the several factors, such as type and concentration of photoinitiators, liquid crystal monomer content, and curing condition (UV intensity and curing time). In addition, simple linear viscoelastic spring-dashpot models, such as 2-parameter Kelvin and 3-parameter linear models, are used to investigate the time-dependent viscoelastic behaviors of polymer networks in PSCLC.

We demonstrate full-color cholesteric liquid crystal films fabricated by cholesteric liquid crystal and reactive mesogen. The reflection linewidth of these films can be dramatically narrowed with the reduced refractive index birefringence of refilled materials. A full-color reflective display is experimentally demonstrated based on these reflective films that are refilled with small birefringence liquid crystals. The electro-optic performances of displays including response time are experimental investigated. The applications of these films include flexible reflective display, color pixels in digital photographs, printing and colored cladding of variety of objects.

A Multispectral Polarized Scene Projector (MPSP) had been developed in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) regime for the test & evaluation (T&E) of spectro-polarimetric imaging sensors. This MPSP generates multispectral and hyperspectral video images (up to 200 Hz) with 512×512 spatial resolution with active spatial, spectral, and polarization modulation with controlled bandwidth. It projects input SWIR radiant intensity scenes from stored memory with user selectable wavelength and bandwidth, as well as polarization states (six different states) controllable on a pixel level. The spectral contents are implemented by a tunable filter with variable bandpass built based on liquid crystal (LC) material, together with one passive visible and one passive SWIR cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) notch filters, and one switchable CLC notch filter. The core of the MPSP hardware is the liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCoS) spatial light modulators (SLMs) for intensity control and polarization modulation.

We discuss on the recent state of the augmented reality (AR) display technology. In order to realize AR, various seethrough three-dimensional (3D) display techniques have been reported. We describe the AR display with 3D functionality such as light-field display and holography. See-through light-field display can be categorized by the optical elements which are used for see-through property: optical elements controlling path of the light-fields and those generating see-through light-field. Holographic display can be also a good candidate for AR display because it can reconstruct wavefront information and provide realistic virtual information. We introduce the see-through holographic display using various optical techniques.

Head-mounted light field displays render a true 3D scene by sampling either the projections of the 3D scene at different depths or the directions of the light rays apparently emitted by the 3D scene and viewed from different eye positions. They are capable of rendering correct or nearly correct focus cues and addressing the very well-known vergence-accommodation mismatch problem in conventional virtual and augmented reality displays. In this talk, I will focus on reviewing recent advancements of head-mounted light field displays for VR and AR applications. I will demonstrate examples of HMD systems developed in my group.

Stereoscopic 3D (S3D) displays provide an enhanced sense of depth by sending different images to the two eyes. But these displays do not reproduce focus cues (blur and accommodation) correctly. Specifically, the eyes must accommodate to the display screen to create sharp retinal images even when binocular disparity drives the eyes to converge to other distances. This mismatch causes discomfort, reduces performance, and distorts 3D percepts. We developed two techniques designed to reduce vergence-accommodation conflicts and thereby improve comfort, performance, and perception. One uses focus-tunable lenses between the display and viewer’s eyes. Lens power is yoked to expected vergence distance creating a stimulus to accommodation that is consistent with the stimulus to vergence. This yoking should reduce the vergence-accommodation mismatch. The other technique uses a fixed lens before one eye and relies on binocularly fused percepts being determined by one eye and then the other, depending on simulated distance. This is meant to drive accommodation with one eye when simulated distance is far and with the other eye when simulated distance is near. We conducted performance tests and discomfort assessments with both techniques and with conventional S3D displays. We also measured accommodation. The focus-tunable technique, but not the fixed-lens technique, produced appropriate stimulus-driven accommodation thereby minimizing the vergence-accommodation conflict. Because of this, the tunable technique yielded clear improvements in comfort and performance while the fixed technique did not. The focus-tunable lens technique therefore offers a relatively easy means for reducing the vergence-accommodation conflict and thereby improving viewer experience.

We demonstrate a series of ultrastable, highly luminescent CH₃NH₃PbBr₃ (MAPbBr₃) green emitting organic-inorganic perovskites (OIP) - polymer composite films achieved by a simple yet general strategy, to be used together with red emitters as down-converters for blue LEDs in display technology. These composite films exhibit high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of up to 48%, high color purity with FWHM (full width at half maximum) as narrow as 18 nm. When combined with blue LED and CdSe-based quantum dots-polymer films or red phosphors as LCD backlight, we can achieve a relatively wide color gamut in Rec. 2020 color space.

We demonstrate a fast-response liquid crystal display (LCD) with an ultra-low-viscosity nematic LC mixture. The measured average motion picture response time is only 6.88 ms, which is comparable to 6.66 ms for an OLED at a 120 Hz frame rate. If we slightly increase the TFT frame rate and/or reduce the backlight duty ratio, image blurs can be further suppressed to unnoticeable level. Potential applications of such an image-blur-free LCD for virtual reality, gaming monitors, and TVs are foreseeable.

We introduce drive schemes for fast switching of nematic liquid crystals (LCs) using three-terminal electrodes. Fast switching of LCs can be achieved by employing a vertical trigger pulse, by applying a vertical bias field, and by employing quasi-impulsive driving and overdrive. By applying high vertical and in-plane trigger pulse voltages between frames to an LC cell, the response time of the LC cell at -20°C was decreased by 12.5 times compared to that of a conventional fringe-field switching (FFS) cell. In addition to providing a fast response, the LC cell exhibited the same high transmittance as an FFS cell over a wide temperature range.

Liquid crystal grating with three-dimensionally modulated anisotropic structure is fabricated by one-step exposure of an empty glass cell whose inner walls are coated with photocrosslinkable polymer liquid crystals to four-beam polarization interference UV beams. The diffraction properties were probed with a 633 nm wavelength laser and a 532 nm wavelength laser which were the coaxial incident. The novel properties, which diffraction directions are threedimensionally different depending on the wavelengths, are realized by the resultant liquid crystal grating. Furthermore, the resultant liquid crystal grating can be also applied to an advanced polarizing beam splitter which opposite circular polarization and linear polarizations are diffracted simultaneously. These diffraction properties were well-explained by Jones calculus. The resultant liquid crystal grating has the plural of the functions of optical elements such as wave plates, polarization beam splitter, dichroic beam splitter, Wollaston/Rochon prism, and tunable wavelength filter. Therefore, the resultant liquid crystal grating can contribute to miniaturization, sophistication, and cost reduction of optical systems using for, such as optical measurement, communication, and information processing.

Polarization is one of the important parameters of the light wave. Diffractive elements, which can control the polarization, have been attracted as high-performance light control device. We have implemented various studies on the formation method and the diffraction characteristics of the anisotropic diffractive element using a photoreactive material. Photocross linkable polymer liquid crystal (PCLC) is an attractive material that can induce anisotropy along the polarization direction of linearly polarized ultraviolet light (LPUV). Also, owing to its relatively large anchoring strength, PCLC have been used as an alignment film of low-molar-mass liquid crystal (LC). Galvanometer scanners (GS) can freely control the exposure position of the laser beam by adjusting the two mirrors, it is possible to form a highly functionalized optical element by drawing the arbitrary exposure lines to the photo-reactive material with temporally changing the polarization state of the laser beam. In this study, we report the polarization drawing method based on GS for the fabrication of anisotropic diffractive optical elements. First, the two types anisotropic diffractive optical elements were fabricated on the PCLC films. To investigate the diffraction properties of fabricated anisotropic diffractive optical elements, we used a polarized He-Ne laser beam as probe and observed diffracted lights. Diffracted beam was twodimensionally emitted depending on the formed anisotropic optical distribution. Then we fabricated LC cell, which works as polarization dependent anisotropic Fresnel lens. The experimental investigations show that it has functions of light condensing and polarization control. From these results, high-performance light control device can be fabricated by the polarization drawing method.