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Circularly polarized light generated by photoexcitation of luminophores in glassy liquid-crystal films

Nature volume 397, pages 506–508 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Optical information processing, display and storage can be accomplished with linearly or circularly polarized light. In passive (non-emitting) devices, linear polarization can be produced by anisotropic absorption of light1, whereas circular polarization has been attained by selective reflection of unpolarized light propagating through a chiral-nematic liquid-crystal film2. Active (light-emitting) devices capable of polarized emission are also needed. In principle, optical and electronic excitation of materials containing uniaxially and helically arranged luminophores should produce linearly and circularly polarized emission, respectively. In practice, the former is easier to achieve and is therefore more technologically advanced3,4,5,6,7,8. Here we report the generation of strongly circularly polarized photoluminescence from films of glass-forming chiral-nematic liquid crystals9 in which are embedded light-emitting dopants. This host material apparently induced alignment of the luminophores to a degree that produces almost pure circular polarization within the 400–420-nm wavelength band of the emitted light. We anticipate that composite films of this sort might find applications within photonic technology such as colour-image projection10 and stereoscopic displays11.

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Figure 1: X-ray diffraction patterns of the glassy liquid-crystalline hosts.
Figure 2: Circularly polarized photoluminescence spectra.
Figure 3: Dissymmetry factor (ge) calculated from the CPPL spectra.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. W. Boyd, L. J. Rothberg and S. D. Jacobs for discussions. This work was supported by the US National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy, and the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science Program, 240 East River Road,, Rochester, 14623-1212, New York, USA

    S. H. Chen & D. Katsis

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, 240 East River Road,, Rochester, 14623-1212, New York, USA

    S. H. Chen & D. Katsis

  3. Laboratory for Laser Energetics, 240 East River Road,, Rochester, 14623-1212, New York, USA

    S. H. Chen & A. W. Schmid

  4. NSF Center for Photoinduced Charge Transfer, Center for Optoelectronics and Imaging, University of Rochester, 240 East River Road,, Rochester, 14623-1212, New York, USA

    S. H. Chen & J. C. Mastrangelo

  5. Department of Applied Science for Electronics and Materials, Kyushu University, Kasuga, 816-8580, Fukuoka, Japan

    T. Tsutsui

  6. Analytical Technology Division, Kodak Research Laboratories, B82A, Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, 14650-2106, New York, USA

    T. N. Blanton

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  1. S. H. Chen
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Correspondence to S. H. Chen.

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Chen, S., Katsis, D., Schmid, A. et al. Circularly polarized light generated by photoexcitation of luminophores in glassy liquid-crystal films. Nature 397, 506–508 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/17343

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