Electro and pressure tunable cholesteric liquid crystal devices based on ion-implanted flexible substrates

Abstract

We report an electro-responsive and pressure sensitive device based on conductive polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) combined with a short pitch Cholesteric Liquid Crystal (CLC). Ion-implantation and surface chemistry in PDMS enable both the induction of conducting properties in this elastomer as well as long range organization of the CLC. Sample electro-optical and pressure dependent optical properties are explored by applying a modulated electric field through the conducting PDMS and a uniform pressure on the top cover substrate. We show that both an electric field of a few V μm⁻¹ and an external pressure of up to 128 kPa can tune the reflection band by about 100 nm.