– We have incorporated nematic liquid crystal into periodic, polymer host structures templated from self-assembled colloids. Using these composite materials, we demonstrate the first electrically switchable three-dimensional Bragg diffraction. The switchable beam deflection is potentially useful for non-mechanical beam steering and optical beam splitting devices. We compare the electro-optic re...

Electrically tunable liquid crystal microlenses have attracted strong research attention due to their advantages of tunable focusing, voltage actuation, low power consumption, simple fabrication, compact structure, and good stability. They are expected to be essential optical devices with widespread applications. However, the slow response time of nematic liquid crystal (LC) microlenses has bee...

Anisotropic phase separation has been used to fabricate an electrically switchable microlens array from nematic liquid crystals. Nematic liquid-crystal-based microlens arrays have been built with diameters of approximately 400 microm and natural focal lengths as small as 1.6 mm. The focal length of each microlens in the array can be changed in milliseconds by an applied electric field. These de...

Inhomogeneous polymer-dispersed liquid crystal devices having gradient droplet distribution were fabricated and their phase retardation characterized. The gradient refractive index profile can be used as switchable prism gratings, and positive and negative lenses with tunable focal lengths. Such a tunable electronic lens is a broadband device and can be used for unpolarized light. © 2002 Americ...

We consider a free boundary problem arising from a polymer dispersed Liquid Crystal model. This variational problem can be viewed as a coupling between harmonic mappings into manifold and area minimization with given volume. In this paper, the existence of the solution together with some regularity and partial regularity results are presented.

In spite of their many advantages, limited image depth still remains as an obstacle to three-dimensional displays based on integral imaging. In this Letter, by combining multiple polymer-dispersed liquid-crystal films and a dual-depth configuration, we propose a method to enhance the depth range of the integral imaging display system.

We have studied the electrooptic properties of droplets of cholesteric liquid crystal dispersed in a polymer. Application of AC electric fields to the droplets leads to a conversion of the droplet from a nonreflecting to a selectively reflecting appearance. When the field is suddenly