The thermally sensitive characteristics of a (smectic LCP/ nematic LC/chiral dopant) ternary composite system

A transition between the transparent smectic A (SmA) phase and the light scattering chiral nematic (N*) phase was realized based on the thermally induced SmA N* phase transition for the homeotropically aligned [liquid crystalline polymer (LCP)/liquid crystal (LC)/chiral dopant] ternary composite system. The LCP played an important role in increasing the intensity of the light scattering of the heat-induced N* phase. Meanwhile the effects of the composition of the ternary composite system on the thermo-optical characteristics were also investigated.