Alignment Change of Discotic Liquid Crystal Domains for a Plastic Columnar Mesophase with Infrared Laser Irradiation

Abstract

Alignment change of liquid crystal domains induced by infrared irradiation was investigated for a plastic hexagonal columnar mesophase of a liquid crystalline triphenylene derivative. A uniform and anisotropic alignment change of domains was observed when a polarized infrared light corresponding to the wavelength of the aromatic C-C stretching absorption band of triphenylene core was irradiated. The results strongly imply that the infrared irradiation is a possible technique for device fabrication by use of plastic columnar mesophase as a liquid crystalline semiconductor.