Alexander Lorenz
Paderborn University, Germany
Title: Manipulating liquid crystals via photo generated fields and tailored polymer
Biography
Biography: Alexander Lorenz
Abstract
Liquid crystals (LCs) are well-known for their highly sensitive and tuneable optical properties. However, inorganic-organic hybrids with localized, light induced (opto-optical) responses and LC composites with fast or threshold-free switching are sought after. In addition to conventional modulation of the intensity, the main goal is to tune optical phase shifts of incident light waves. Localized optical responses can be triggered by the use of light, to allow for optical manipulation. Photo generated polymer can yield in highly responsive, fast LC composites for future displays and adaptive optics.
Figure 1: Schematic of a polymer network LC sample and polarized optical micrographs of a hybridized sample with photoinduced, erasable defect pattern.