Electrically tunable selective reflection of light from ultraviolet to visible and infrared by heliconical cholesterics

Jie Xiang; Yannian Li; Quan Li; Daniel A Paterson; John M D Storey; Corrie T Imrie; Oleg D Lavrentovich

doi:10.1002/adma.201500340

Electrically tunable selective reflection of light from ultraviolet to visible and infrared by heliconical cholesterics

Adv Mater. 2015 May 20;27(19):3014-8. doi: 10.1002/adma.201500340. Epub 2015 Mar 27.

Authors

Jie Xiang¹, Yannian Li¹, Quan Li¹, Daniel A Paterson², John M D Storey², Corrie T Imrie², Oleg D Lavrentovich¹

Affiliations

¹ Liquid Crystal Institute and Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242, USA.
² Department of Chemistry, School of Natural and Computing Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, Scotland, UK.

Abstract

Electrical tuning of selective reflection of light is achieved in a very broad spectral range from ultraviolet to visible and infrared by an oblique helicoidal state of a cholesteric liquid crystal in a wide temperature range (including room temperature). The phenomenon offers potential applications in tunable smart windows, lasers, optical filters and limiters, as well as in displays.

Keywords: dimeric materials; electrical tuning of selective light reflection; heliconical cholesteric liquid crystal.