Photorefractive Effect of Polymer-Stabilized Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals

摘要

The photorefractive effect of polymer-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLC) was investigated. Two-types of monomers, a liquid crystalline monomer and a photoconductive monomer, were mixed with an FLC and the mixtures were photopolymerized in the ferroelectric phase. The polymer-network was formed in the FLC medium and a polymer-stabilized FLC was obtained. The polymer-stabilized FLC exhibited monostable switching properties. The photorefractive effect was evaluated by a two-beam coupling experiment. It was found that the photorefractive effect was strongly dominated by the preparation condition of the polymer-stabilized FLCs. Large gain coefficients were obtained in the photoconductive-polymer-stabilized FLCs.