Investigation of a ferronematic cell influenced by a magnetic filed

This paper presents the optical study of the magnetically induced change of the spatial orientation of the directors' field in a ferronematic. This paper presents the investigations of the ferronematic that base on 6CHBT nematic liquid crystal. Magnetic field induces one-dimensional distribution of the tilt angle of a directors filed. On a basis of the optical measurements the mean volume concentration of magnetic particles was determined. Moreover the range of magnetic field intensity was determined in which the distribution of tilt angle can be described in scope of the Burylov-Raikher theory and the small tilt angle approximation

The influence of magnetic field on refractive index profile of ferronematic cell

This paper presents the study of the influence of magnetic field on the refractive index profile of homeotropically oriented 6CHBT-based ferronematic liquid crystal cell. The direction of magnetic field was chosen in a way which ensures the one-dimensional deformation of directors field. The FN cell was placed between polarizers. On a basis of Burylov-Raikher model and measurements of light transmission throughout the ferronematic layer the mean volume concentration of magnetic particles dispersed in 6CHBT and refractive index profiles induced by magnetic filed were determined. Moreover the range of magnetic field intensity was determined in which the distribution of tilt angle can be described in a scope of the Burylov-Raikher theory and the small tilt angle approximation

A Novel Electrically Tunable Long-Period Fiber Grating Using a Liquid Crystal Cladding Layer

The main aim of the presented work is the integration of a long-period fiber grating and a liquid crystal into a hybrid structure, in order to develop an innovative fiber optic device controlled by an external electric field. The studied long-period fiber grating was fabricated using UV irradiation in a boron co-doped fiber (PS1250/1500, manufactured by Fibercore). As a liquid crystal we used a typical 5CB nematic liquid crystal. The sensing mechanism of the proposed loss filter relies on long-period fiber grating attenuation bands sensitivity to optical properties of the liquid crystal layer. The results obtained show that the long-period fiber grating with a nanosized liquid crystal layer exhibits one order of magnitude higher electrical sensitivity and a lower level of the voltage control than the long-period fiber grating with a micro-sized liquid crystal layer

Photoalignment : an alternative aligning technique for fast liquid crystal shutter

W artykule podjęto temat wyboru techniki fotoporządkowania ciekłego kryształu. Technologia ta jest alternatywą dla najczęściej stosowanego rubbingu, czyli jednostronnego polerowania warstw poliimidowych i poliamidowych. Zarówno w przypadku rubbingu (buffingu), który ma naturę kontaktową, jak i bezkontaktowego fotoporządkowania efektem pracy jest wytworzenie anizotropii warstwy, która następnie ma za zadanie porządkować leżącą bezpośrednio na niej warstwę ciekłego kryształu (LC). Rubbing jest metodą stosunkowo prostą i tanią i jest zwyczajowo używany przy produkcji wyświetlaczy ciekłokrystalicznych. W trakcie polerowania mogą jednak powstawać uszkodzenia struktury matrycy aktywnej oraz tworzyć się pyły, które są szkodliwe zwłaszcza dla bardzo cienkich warstw ciekłego kryształu. W związku z tym poszukuje się metod alternatywnych porządkowania. Z fotoporządkowaniem mamy do czynienia wtedy, gdy anizotropia warstwy porządkującej wywołana jest przez ekspozycję materiału fotoczułego na działanie światła ultrafioletowego spolaryzowanego liniowo. Jest to proces bezkontaktowy, więc eliminuje on większość wymienionych wcześniej wad rubbingu. Ponadto umożliwia pracę na plastycznych oraz zakrzywionych podłożach. Istnieją cztery różne drogi realizacji procesu fotoporządkowania warstwy światłoczułych materiałów organicznych: 1) fotodegradacja w materiałach poliimidowych, 2) izomeryzacja cis-trans azozwiązków, 3) czysta reorientacja związków azowych w polu potencjału światła UV oraz 4) sieciowanie w strukturze polimerowej. W pracy przedstawiono krytyczny przegląd wyżej wymienionych metod. Zastosowanie fotoporządkowania badane jest pod kątem przydatności w komórkach działających w oparciu między innymi o efekty: FLC (ang. ferroelectric liquid crystal, ciekły kryształ ferroelektryczny), TN (ang. twisted nematic, skręcony nematyk), BTN (ang. bistable twisted nematic, bistabilny skręcony nematyk), VAN (ang. vertical alignment nematic, pionowa deformacja fazy nematycznej), IPS (ang. in plane switching, przełączanie w płaszczyźnie) i inne. Celem poniższej pracy jest porównanie i określenie przydatności różnych metod fotoporządkowania dla technologii przetworników ciekłokrystalicznych o dużej jasności zobrazowania.In this study we consider the topic of the photoalignment of liquid crystal material. It is an alternative method to the rubbing of polyimide and polyamide layers. Both techniques provide the anisotropy in organic layers. This anisotropy aligns overlaying liquid crystal. The rubbing is a well known and cheap technique and it's ordinarily used in liquid crystal displays manufacturing. However, it has several disadvantages, for example it produces dust particles and charges the layer. Furthermore it may damage the surface electronic. These drawbacks can be critical factors in working with thin liquid crystal layers (about 2-5 µm) for example ferroelectric and antiferroelectric Lcs. Heterogeneity at the microscopic level can be noxious especially in the area of some types of liquid crystals and in manufacturing high-resolution liquid crystal displays (over 40”) and state-of-art projector display systems. In order to omit these problems, very important for the future work is to develop a new, universal and high-performance, technique for liquid crystal aligning. One of alternatives is photoalignment. It eliminates many of drawbacks mentioned above. This technique uses light (generally linearly polarized ultraviolet light, LPUV) to produce anisotropy in photodephiniable materials. In addition this technique allows us to obtain layers on plastic or curve surfaces. We can distinguish four main photoalignment mechanisms (including photo-chemical reactions and photo-physical changes): (1) cis-trans isomerization in azo-structures: pure dyes films, polymers containing azo-groups and monolayers of azodyes, (2) pure reorientation of photo-chemically stable azo-dyes molecules, (3) photodegradation in polyimide materials and (4) crosslinking in cinnamoyl and coumarin side-chain polymers. There are some modifications among these procedures, such as polymerizable azo-dyes or Langmuir-Blodgett films. Photoalignment is investigated in diverse liquid crystal modes, such as: twisted nematic (TN), vertical alignment (VAN), in plane switching (IPS) and many others. In this paper we describe all of the photoalignment mechanisms mentioned above and compare their ability to align the liquid crystal material in the field of application in various modes of LC cells

Spectral Tuning of the Long-Period Fiber Gratings by Using Low Birefringence Liquid Crystals

The work presented in this paper is focused on investigation of the spectral properties of the long-period fiber gratings combined with the liquid crystals, named liquid crystal long-period fiber gratings. The experiments carried out showed that the proposed designs of the liquid crystal long-period fiber gratings can offer very interesting spectral properties and can introduce a new level of sensitivity. In particular, a high-efficiency thermal tuning of the long-period fiber gratings coated with low-birefringence liquid crystal layers could be achieved and gave rise to a fast and wide switching ability of the attenuation bands within their transmission spectrum

Comparison of Different Liquid Crystal Materials under Planar and Homeotropic Boundary Conditions in Capillaries

We present a thermally-induced liquid crystal orientation method by applying an extra orienting layer onto an inner capillary surface that can induce either planar or homeotropic liquid crystal boundary conditions. Experimental evidence of boundary-induced orientation in two types of liquid crystal (nematic, chiral nematic) in a capillary are shown