STRUCTURE AND OPTICAL-PROPERTIES OF LIQUID-CRYSTAL DISPERSED POLYMERS

Liquid crystal polymer composite systems can be divided into two main subgroups. The first consists of the polymer dispersed liquid crystals (PDLC), where the liquid crystal is dispersed in the continuous polym er matrix. The second contains the liquid crystal dispersed polymer (L CDP) systems (sometimes called as liquid crystal/gel dispersions), whe re only a small amount of polymer is dispersed in a continuous liquid crystal matrix. Neutron scattering and optical studies on various LCDP systems were made to investigate the structure of polymers dispersed in nematic and smectic liquid crystals. The results indicate that smal l (<100 Angstrom size) fuzzes on the surface of the polymer fibers may play the essential role in the alignment of the liquid crystal molecu les. These fuzzes can be realigned by the combination of external fiel ds and heat treatments yielding a fading memory effect. This implies v arious application possibilities. Among them we describe a novel, elec trically driven optical storage effect.