Cholesteric LCE films have narrow reflection bands that can be adjusted by stretching the material. When stretched, the pitch, or distance between cholesteric layers is changed, shifting the reflection band of the LCE film, as seen in the picture to the left. Varying the amount of the cholesteric molecules in the LCE, allows control over the initial reflection band. These materials can be used for mirroless lasing applications (ref. Adv. Mat. 2001(13), 2001. p 1069)
F. Brommel and S. Krause from Prof. Finkelmann's group provided training for material preparation

This material may be prepared either by spin casting or photo-crosslinked in a cell. When made in a cell, the glass is coated with a sacrificial layer and is photo-crosslinked. When spin cast, the material is made using a chemical crosslinker.

  1. Chemical synthesis
  2. Mixture preparation
  3. Cell loading or spin casting
  4. Release from cell
  5. Characterization

Reaction progress can be monitored by UV-VIS spectroscopy, with the actual size and morphology of the Au NR checked by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM).

Highslide JS

The cholesteric LCE is composed of the siloxane polymer backbone, monomer, a crosslinker, either chemical (left) or photo (right), and the cholesterol derivative

Chemical constituents for either the spin cast or photo-crosslinked systems.