Photo-controllable electro-optics of aerosil 7CB nanocomposite nematic doped with azo-bonded molecules

We demonstrate that the electro-optics of nanostructured nematic liquid crystal (LC) doped with a small amount of photoactive LC molecules can be efficiently controlled by light. In particular, the inclusion of 3 wt.% azobenzene LC 4-(4'-ethoxyphenylazo)phenyl hexanoate (EPH) into a gel nanocom...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physics. Conference series 2016-02, Vol.682 (1), p.12030
Main Authors: Marinov, Y G, Hadjichristov, G B, Petrov, A G, Prasad, S Krishna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Azo compounds
Chemical bonds
Electric fields
Electro-optics
Isomerization
Liquid crystals
Nanocomposites
Nanoparticles
Nematic crystals
Physics
Silicon dioxide
Stability
Thin films
Ultraviolet radiation
White light
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Summary:We demonstrate that the electro-optics of nanostructured nematic liquid crystal (LC) doped with a small amount of photoactive LC molecules can be efficiently controlled by light. In particular, the inclusion of 3 wt.% azobenzene LC 4-(4'-ethoxyphenylazo)phenyl hexanoate (EPH) into a gel nanocomposite material produced from nematic LC heptylcyanobiphenyl (7CB) and 3 wt.% hydrophilic silica nanoparticles of size ca. 7 nm (Aerosil 300) allows both the static (the transmittance versus the voltage) and the dynamic (amplitude-frequency electrooptic modulation) characteristics of thin films (25 μm) of such a complex LC system in an alternating-current electric field to be enhanced by UV light at a wavelength of 375 nm. This photo-effect that is reversed with white light is based on the photo-isomerization of the doped azobenzene molecules. The efficient photo control makes the considered EPH-doped Aerosil 7CB photo-responsive nematic nanocomposites attractive for specific electro-optic applications.
ISSN:1742-6588
1742-6596
DOI:10.1088/1742-6596/682/1/012030