Photoirradiation of films of polymer liquid crystals (PLCs) with mesogenic phenyl-benzoate side-chains containing a small amount of photoresponsive guest molecules such as azobenzene derivatives, to bring about
traps-cis isomerization of the guest molecule, resulted in an isothermal nematic to isotropic phase transition of the guest/host mixtures at the irradiated sites; thus, optical image could be stored with a high contrast ratio. Excellent film-forming properties of PLCs enables cell-free performance of the optical image recording systems. Furthermore, owing to the glass transition temperature (Tg) of PLCs, the stored image could be kept very stable for a long period below Tg. The photochemical phase transition of the guest/host mixtures was reversible:
cis-trans back-isomerization restored the initial state, so that the image is rewritable. Resolution was found to be -2μm and response was in the range of 50ms to 200ms, which was comparable or even faster than that of low-molecular-weight liquid crystals.
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