2a05 Photoresponsive behavior of oligothiophene-doped liquid-crystalline polymer films

Abstract

It is well known that low-molecular-weight liquid crystals doped with a dye molecule can undergo photoinduced molecular reorientation upon irradiation with a Gaussian laser beam. The phenomenon is a nonlinear optical effect, and it takes place only above certain threshold intensity. In this study, an oligothiophene derivative was doped into polymerizable liquid-crystalline mixtures, and the aligned samples were polymerized. Photoresponsive behavior of the resultant liquid-crystalline polymer film was studied.