Magnetically tunable selective reflection of light by heliconical cholesterics

ORAL

Abstract

We present studies of chiral nematic liquid crystals composed of flexible dimer molecules subject to large dc magnetic fields between 0 and 31 T. We observe that these fields lead to selective reflection of light depending on temperature and magnetic field. The band of reflected wavelengths can be tuned from ultraviolet to beyond the IR-C band. A similar effect induced by electric fields has been presented previously, and was explained by a field-induced oblique-heliconical director deformation. The use of magnetic field here instead of electric field allows precise measurements of some material constants and holds promise for wireless tuning of selective reflection. References [1] S. M. Salili, J. Xiang, H. Wang, Q. Li, D. A. Paterson, J. M. D. Storey, C. T. Imrie, O. D. Lavrentovich, S. N. Sprunt, J. T. Gleeson, and A. Jakli, Phys. Rev. E 94, 042705 (2016).

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Authors

  • Seyyed Muhammad Salili

    • Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program & Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA

  • Jie Xiang

    • Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program & Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA

  • Hao Wang

    • Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program & Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA

  • Quan Li

    • Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program & Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA

  • Daniel Alexander Paterson

    • Department of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen, AB24 3UE Scotland, United Kingdom

  • John Storey

    • Department of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen, AB24 3UE Scotland, United Kingdom

  • Corrie Imrie

    • Department of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen, AB24 3UE Scotland, United Kingdom

  • Oleg Lavrentovich

    • Kent State University Liquid Crystal Institute
    • Liquid Crystal Institute and Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program, Kent State University
    • Kent State University
    • Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program & Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA

  • Samuel Sprunt

    • Department of Physics, Kent State University
    • Department of Physics, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA

  • James Gleeson

    • Department of Physics, Kent State University
    • Department of Physics, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA

  • Antal Jakli

    • CPIP and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University
    • Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program & Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA