Abstract
LIQUID crystals have been used extensively as active media in display devices such as full-colour television screens. These devices are generally based on changes in the arrangement of the liquidcrystal molecules induced by electric fields, which change their optical properties1. Ferroelectric liquid crystals2,3 exhibit spontaneous polarization and therefore show a faster response to changes in the applied field. Switching of this field causes a reversal in the direction of polarization2–;5. Here we report polarization switching in ferroelectric liquid crystals driven by a photochemical process. The liquid-crystal films are doped with a photochromic compound which undergoes trans–cis isomerization on irradiation. Photoisomerization induces a change in the switching potential of the host liquid-crystal film, and thereby causes switching at the irradiated sites. The process is fast, stable, reversible and repeatable, and should be exploitable in device applications.
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Ikeda, T., Sasaki, T. & Ichimura, K. Photochemical switching of polarization in ferroelectric liquid-crystal films. Nature 361, 428–430 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/361428a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/361428a0
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