Electro-convective diffractive device
First Claim
1. A tunable diffraction grating comprising:
- a cell with a first cell wall spaced from a second cell wall;
electrodes disposed on facing surfaces of the first and second cell walls; and
an array of nematic liquid crystal convective rolls, wherein said convective rolls are arranged periodically in a space between said first cell wall and said second cell wall; and
a polymeric network stabilizing said array of nematic liquid crystal convective rolls.
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Abstract
A method for producing a diffraction grating is provided. First, a mixture including nematic liquid crystal, dopant, and polymerizable precursor is introduced between two electrically conductive substrates having alignment layers for inducing orientation of the liquid crystal director. A potential difference is applied across the liquid crystal to cause a spontaneous self-assembly of the liquid crystal into an array of convective rolls. Thereafter, the roll structure is stabilized by the creation of a polymeric network through polymerization and/or cross-linking of the polymerizable precursor. The convective roll structure serves as a template for the formation of the polymeric network.
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. A tunable diffraction grating comprising:
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a cell with a first cell wall spaced from a second cell wall;
electrodes disposed on facing surfaces of the first and second cell walls; and
an array of nematic liquid crystal convective rolls, wherein said convective rolls are arranged periodically in a space between said first cell wall and said second cell wall; and
a polymeric network stabilizing said array of nematic liquid crystal convective rolls. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method for producing a diffraction grating comprising the steps of:
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introducing a polymerizable mixture including nematic liquid crystal, dopant, and polymerizable precursor between two electrically conductive substrates;
applying a potential difference across the polymerizable mixture to cause the nematic liquid crystal to assemble into an array of convective rolls; and
stabilizing the convective roll structure by forming a polymer network from the polymerizable precursor, wherein the polymer network is bounded by the convective roll structure. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7)
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Specification