SURFACE-MEDIATED ALIGNMENT OF NEMATIC LIQUID-CRYSTALS WITH POLARIZED LASER-LIGHT
SURFACE-MEDIATED ALIGNMENT OF NEMATIC LIQUID-CRYSTALS WITH POLARIZED LASER-LIGHT
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DOI：
10.1038/351049a0
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发表时间：
1991-05-02
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
SWETLIN, BJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
GIBBONS, WM;SHANNON, PJ;SWETLIN, BJ
液晶相分子排列在宏观尺度上的控制由于其在光学或光电应用（如液晶显示）中的重要性而得到了广泛的研究。已经确定的是，液晶可以通过外加电场、磁场、剪切流场、衬底表面的机械开槽或液晶聚合物薄膜的拉伸来排列。本文报道了一种利用偏振激光进行液晶对准的新机制。我们发现，向列液晶在被照射区域的取向垂直于激光的电场偏振方向，而在没有激光辐射的情况下仍保持排列。液晶可以通过随后的照明重新定向。该技术可应用于大面积显示、光存储、二元光学、自适应光学和分子微组装等领域。
THE control of molecular alignment in liquid-crystal phases at macroscopic scales has been investigated extensively because of its importance in optical or optoelectronic applications, such as liquid-crystal displays 1. It is well established that liquid crystals can be aligned by an applied electric field, a magnetic field, a shear-flow field, mechanical grooving of the substrate surface or stretching of liquid-crystal polymer thin films 2,3. Here we report a new mechanism for liquid-crystal alignment that uses polarized laser light. We find that nematic liquid crystals in an illuminated region become oriented perpendicular to the direction of the electric-field polarization of the laser and remain aligned in the absence of the laser radiation. The liquid crystals can be reoriented again by subsequent illumination. This technique might have applications for large-area displays, optical memories, binary optics, adaptive optics and molecular micro-assembly.