Abstract
Photopolymerization of a ferroelectric liquid-crystalline monomer, (R)-methylheptyl 4'-(4-(ω-meth-acryloyloxyundecyloxy)benzoyloxy)biphenyl-4-carboxylate, was carried out, using a photoinitiator (Ciba Geigy, Irgacure 784) under an electric field by means of interfering laser beams of an argon-ion laser at 488 nm. The monomer mixture in a 2-μm cell was periodically polymerized in the bright region of the interference pattern, and the initial molecular alignment was stabilized. By applying electric field, the diffraction signal could be observed. This phenomenon is ascribed to the formation of grating, resulting from the change in alignment of the unreacted monomers in the dark region of the interference pattern. The change in diffraction beam intensity was reversible, so that switching of the diffraction beam by electric field could be carried out.
