Stabilization of Liquid Crystal Microlenses Doped with an Oligothiophene

Abstract

The crosslinkable oligothiophene was synthesized, and photoresponsive behavior of nematic liquid crystals (LCs) doped with the crosslinkable oligothiophene was investigated. The LC nature and optical properties of these compounds were evaluated. The photoinduced diffraction rings were observed as a result of self-phase modulation, when an Ar+ laser beam at 488 nm was irradiated above the threshold intensity. The number of rings, which shows the degree of the change in alignment, depended on the light intensity. The reoriented LCs were stabilized by photopolymerization with 366-nm light from a high-pressure Hg lamp.