Advanced Materials

Liquid Crystals: Thermally Induced, Multicolored Hyper-Reflective Cholesteric Liquid Crystals (Adv. Mater. 12/2011)

While chiral nematic liquid crystals are promising for a variety of dynamic photonic applications, their contrast is usually limited to 50%. Timothy J. Bunning and co-workers present a system that dynamically induces contrast approaching 100% at multiple wavelengths using temperature on p. 1453. The inside cover is a rendered graphic of a surface bound helicoidal structured polymer network that templates the local liquid crystal molecules. The green background is a color enhanced polarized optical microscopy image of the liquid crystal texture in the non-templated region that is critical to thermal tuning behavior. Cover design by Michael E. McConney.

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