Liquid crystal and polymer dispersions: morphological control

Joe B. Whitehead Jr.; Nicole L. Gill

doi:10.1117/12.592776

12 April 2005 Liquid crystal and polymer dispersions: morphological control (Invited Paper)

Joe B. Whitehead Jr., Nicole L. Gill

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5741, Emerging Liquid Crystal Technologies; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.592776
Event: Integrated Optoelectronic Devices 2005, 2005, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

Liquid crystal and polymer dispersions (LCPD) have potential application as flat panel displays, switchable lenses, optical switches, Bragg gratings, photonic crystals, diffractive optics, hyper-spectral filters, and etc. Precise morphological control of the phase-separated morphology of LCPDs is required to meet the rigorous requirements for the numerous applications. Liquid crystal and polymer dispersions (LCPDs) are micro or nano-structured materials fabricated using one of several phase separation techniques. The micro- or nano-structured morphology of LCPDs ranges from a polymeric network suspended in a liquid crystal solvent (polymer stabilized liquid crystals [PSLC] to random or spatially periodic micron or sub-micron sized liquid crystal droplet dispersions in a solid polymer matrix of polymer dispersed liquid crystals (PDLC) and the holographically formed PDLC (H-PDLC). The goal of this investigation is to identify the material properties and processing conditions required for more precise control of the phase-separated morphology of PDLCs. The investigation entailed construction of thermal phase diagrams for liquid crystal and monomer/pre-polymer mixtures to identify the compositionally dependent phase separation temperatures. The investigation also entailed inducing phase separation of the mixtures via ultra-violent light initiated polymerization at carefully chosen cure temperatures based on the thermal phase diagrams. The phase-separated morphology was correlated with the cure temperature, liquid crystal component, and mixture composition.

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Joe B. Whitehead Jr. and Nicole L. Gill "Liquid crystal and polymer dispersions: morphological control (Invited Paper)", Proc. SPIE 5741, Emerging Liquid Crystal Technologies, (12 April 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.592776

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