Enhancement of the optical absorption in cholesteric liquid crystals due to photonic effects: an experimental study

An anomalous strong optical absorption was measured in a cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) at both edges of its photonic band gap. The experiment was carried out by studying the luminescence generated by the CLC sample doped with a small amount of fluorescent dye. The material was excited with monochromatic light at different angles of incidence and polarisations. Clear peaks were found in the luminescence response at angles for which the pumping wavelength coincides with the positions of the gap edges. The effect is especially noticeable for excitation under circularly polarised light of the same handedness as that of the CLC helix, and it is the highest at the long-wavelength edge. The modification of the absorption is originated by the helicoidal (photonic) structure of the material, which drastically influences the propagation of electromagnetic waves at certain frequencies and polarisations. The results were analysed numerically using an extension of the Berreman method that incorporates absorption effects. Good agreement with the experiment was found.     

Synthesis and characterization of two series of pressure-sensitive cholesteric liquid crystal elastomers with optical properties

ABSTRACT

We synthesized two series of cholesteric liquid-crystal elastomers by hydrosilylation among monomers MA containing a cholesteryl group, MB (MC) containing a phenolic hydroxyl group and MD as the crosslinker. The chemical structures of all the monomers and LCEs were confirmed by ¹H NMR and FT-IR. We explored the mesomorphic properties and phase behaviours by TGA, DSC, POM, and XRD. All the LCEs presented elasticity, reversible phase transition, and high thermal stability. For two series of LCEs, the glass transition temperature increased slowly, and the isotropic transition temperature increased obviously. PA-I-PA-V and PB-I-PB-IV displayed selective reflection and colourful Grandjean texture, but PA-VI, PB-V, and PB-VI needed external pressure to show them.     

Phase and optical behaviours of chiral-azo liquid crystal polymethylsiloxanes with isosorbide units

ABSTRACT

In this study, we synthesised two series of cholesteric liquid crystal polymers CPQ and CPZ series. First, we prepared four different monomers ML₁ containing a cholesteryl group, ML₂ containing a cyano group, ML₃ containing a phenolic hydroxyl group and ML₄ containing isosorbide with azo groups. With the polymethylsiloxanes as the main chain, CPQ series were then synthesised by copolymerisation among the monomers ML₁, ML₂ and ML₃ and CPZ series were synthesised by esterification between the CPQ series and the monomer ML₄. ¹HNMR and FT-IR spectra confirmed the chemical structures of all the monomers and polymers. The mesomorphic behaviours and thermal properties were investigated by TGA, DSC, POM and XRD. Both the CPQ and CPZ series exhibited excellent thermal stability and reversible phase transitions, as well as interesting Grandjean textures under POM. CPZ series showed higher optical activity than CPQ series due to the introduction of the isosorbide group and the azo group, which could tune the pitch to make Bragg selective reflection appear more easily. UV–Vis spectra investigated the photoresponse behaviours of CPZ series thoroughly.     

Temperature-controllable beam splitter and optical filter based on filling liquid crystal into both ends of photonic crystal fibres

We first presented an optical device of integrated beam splitter and filter based on the photonic crystal fibres (PCFs) with both ends of the air-holes filled with liquid crystal (LCs). All of the air-holes of one end of PCFs were filled with LCs and for the other end two air-holes near the solid core were selectively filled with LCs. As a beam splitter, when the two-filled-holes end was heated, the light power partly transmitted steadily from the central solid core into the two holes filled with LCs after the clearing point. As a filter, when the two-filled-holes end was heated, a peak near 760 nm of transmission spectrum got weak and another peak near 608 nm was maintained. While heating the full-filled end, the peak near 760 nm got strong and the peak near 608 nm got extremely weak. So this optical device could be applied to beam splitter and filter.     

Localised optical states in a structure formed by two oppositely handed cholesteric liquid crystal layers and a metal

A new model for observing localised optical states in a structure containing a cholesteric liquid crystal is proposed. The dependence of the mode frequency on the angle between directors at the interface of oppositely handed cholesterics is established. The effect of the metal layer thickness on localisation of light at the localised state frequency is studied. Polarisation features of the transmission spectrum are investigated. The possibility of experimental implementation of the proposed structure is discussed.     

Design and analysis of a tunable liquid crystal switch/filter with metallic nano-slits

We present a tunable device with wavelength switching/filtering features using periodic metallic nano-slits integrated with a nematic liquid crystal layer. Electrical tunability is a result of the presence of nematic liquid crystal in the cavity of a device. Resonant wavelength can be fine-tuned in 94-nm intervals by controlling the bias voltage. The present study shows that the performance of the device is dependent strongly on the geometry of nano-slits. Through the optimization of parameters, 23 dB ON–OFF ratio is achieved, which is better compared to other solutions. These characteristics can be used in switching/filtering applications at near-infrared optical communication systems. In addition, the dependence of reflectance spectrum on incident angle suggests that an application is a tunable optical filter for this device.     

4‐Aryl‐3,5‐bis(arylethynyl)aryl‐4H‐1,2,4‐triazoles: Multitasking Skeleton as a Self‐Assembling Unit

The synthesis of a series of 4‐aryl‐3,5‐bis(arylethynyl)aryl‐4H‐1,2,4‐triazoles derivatives is reported and the influence exerted by peripheral substitution on the morphology of the aggregates generated from these 1,2,4‐triazoles is investigated by SEM imaging. The presence of paraffinic side chains results in long fibrillar supramolecular structures, but unsubstituted triazoles self‐assemble into thinner ribbons and needle‐like aggregates. The crystals obtained from methoxy‐substituted triazoles have been utilised to elaborate a model that helps to justify aggregation of the investigated 1,2,4‐triazoles, in which the operation of arrays of C?H???π non‐covalent interactions plays a significant role. The results presented herein demonstrate the ability of simple molecules to behave as multitasking scaffolds with different properties, depending on peripheral substitution. Thus, although 1,2,4‐triazoles without long paraffinic side chains exhibit optical waveguiding behaviour, triazoles endowed with peripheral paraffinic side chains exhibit hexagonal columnar mesomorphism.