Cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) form self-assembled helical structures of rodlike molecules. From its periodic helical structure, the CLC exhibits a structural color by selectively reflecting circularly polarized light of the same handedness as the helix. Here, without external stimuli of electric fields, temperature, and light, we show tuning of spectral position, width, viewing angle, and diffusivity of its reflection color in a CLC by employing amorphous and nanostructured perfluoropolymer (called CYTOP) films as alignment layers. This CLC combined with perfluoropolymer films provides new possibilities in various photonic applications such as active components of photonic sensors, reflective displays, and tunable lasers.
Cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) with periodical helical structures of nematic molecules are chiral photonic crystals that exhibit photonic band gaps for circularly polarized lights with same handedness as CLC helices. We investigated optical characteristics of CLCs on nanoimprinted CYTOP films. Here, nanoimprinted CYTOP films are used as alignment layers to control orientations of cholesteric helices because of its strongly hydrophobic surface with low polarity and low polarizability. The CLCs on the nanoimprinted films showed not specular but diffusive reflections at the specific spectral region. This nanostructured CYTOP film can provide new possibility to engineer optical characteristics of the CLCs.
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