A new kind of anisotropic gel has been produced by photopolymerization of l
iquid crystal (LC) mixtures composed of monoacrylates, diacrylates and non-
reactive conventional LC molecules. After polymerization, lightly cross-lin
ked anisotropic polymer networks swollen by the non-reactive molecules are
produced. These systems showed a gel-point associated with the onset of the
formation of a three dimensional network. Above this point, a rapid increa
se in the threshold voltage was observed. Various factors, such as the phot
oinitiator concentration and the monoacrylate and diacrylate concentrations
, as well as the intensity of the light used for the polymerization, have a
strong influence on the gel-point. The switching kinetics of the materials
are also strongly influenced by the aforementioned parameters. Two relaxat
ion processes were found to occur within the gels above the gel-point. Usin
g dielectric spectroscopy, this behaviour was found to be associated with a
n inhomogeneous phase structure within the gels. Patterned irradiation was
used to produce regions with different threshold voltages for switching. In
this way, patterns were created in the gels, which become visible, by the
application of an electric field. It was demonstrated that this technique c
an be used to produce switchable gratings, Fresnel lenses, and photographs.