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In this work, we propose a new type of an autonomous modulator. Blends of electron-donating (D) conjugated polymers and electron-accepting (A) fullerene molecules were used as a photovoltaic thin films and integrated into liquid crystal device. Such D/A bulk heterojunctions are the major building block of solution-processed organic solar cells and are known to convert incident light into electrical energy. In our case, the organic layer generates a photovoltaic field that is used to control the LC alignment under illumination. We carried out cross-polarized intensity measurements on this photovoltaic-LC device to demonstrate the expected occurrence of a light–dependent birefringence change, without an applied voltage. In this way, by combining solution-processed organic photovoltaic thin films with optical responsive liquid crystals, our work paves the way to low cost and large area self-sustained optical devices. |
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Liquid crystals
Optically addressed spatial light modulators
Birefringence
Photovoltaics
Diffraction
Heterojunctions
Organic photovoltaics
