Experimental, Analytical, and Computational Study of Nematic Optical Elastomers

光学弹性体，由聚合物液晶交联形成，具有重要的特性，如应力诱导的光开关，应力诱导的相变温度位移，压电性等，使其成为集成光学等工业应用的有希望的候选者。本项目对这些材料在双轴载荷下的响应进行了实验研究。这些实验的观察结果被用于开发预测工具，这些工具将增强对这些材料的机械光学行为的理解，从而能够在工业环境中有效地使用这些材料。* * *

9700199 James Optical elastomers, formed by cross-linking of polymeric liquid crystals, possess important properties, such as stress-induced optical switching, stress induced shifts in phase transition temperatures, piezoelectricity, etc., that make them promising candidates for industrial applications such as in integrated optics. The response of these materials under biaxial loading is experimentally investigated in this project. The observations from these experiments are being used to develop predictive tools that will enhance the understanding of mechano-optical behavior of these materials and thus the ability to effectively use these materials in industrial setting. ***