Berlin 2015 – scientific programme
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DF: Fachverband Dielektrische Festkörper
DF 12: Optical and Nonlinear Optical Properties I (DF with CPP)
DF 12.1: Invited Talk
Wednesday, March 18, 2015, 09:30–10:00, EB 407
Holographic microstructuring of liquid-crystalline elastomers — •Irena Drevensek-Olenik1,2, Martin Čopič1,2, Martin Fally3, Valentina Domenici4, and Antoni Sánchez-Ferrer5 — 1Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, Jadranska 19, SI1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia — 2J. Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, SI1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia — 3Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, A-1090 Wien, Austria — 4Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale, Università degli studi di Pisa, via Risorgimento, 35, 56126 Pisa, Italy — 5Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
Adding a small amount of photoactive component, for instance a photo-isomerizable azobenzene derivative, to the matrix of a liquid-crystalline elastomer (LCE) opens up various possibilities for optical manipulation of mechanical, thermal, electrical and optical properties of the material. Holographic microstructuring in LCEs is based on the coupling between isomerization state of the azobenzene groups and orientational order of the mesogenic side chains. Due to collective nature of this process light-induced spatial modifications of optical refractive index in LCEs are several magnitudes larger than in conventional azobenzene-based holographic media. Holographic patterning of LCEs consequently provides a very convenient method for fabrication of tuneable optical diffraction structures that can easily be manipulated by external stimuli, such as strain, external fields and temperature variations.