Effects of crosslinking agent,cure temperature,and UV flux on the electro‐optical properties of polymer‐dispersed liquid crystal cells

We present results for the effects of a crosslinking agent, cure temperature, and UV flux on the electro‐optical properties of polymer‐dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) cells. These cells were fabricated using a mixture of a liquid crystal (E8) and an acrylic monomer (CN135). The maximum in the first derivative of the transmission vs. applied, sinusoidal voltage (inflection voltage, V_inf), varies systematically with PDLC formulation and cure‐process conditions. For PDLC cells fabricated with a crosslinking agent (SR295), V_inf increases with increasing the concentration of SR295. However, for cells fabricated without the use of a crosslinking agent, V_inf decreases with increasing the UV flux and decreasing temperature. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 404–410, 2004