Stereolithography additive manufacturing of photoaligned liquid crystal elastomers

A product, comprising:

• a three-dimensional structure having a plurality of portions comprised of liquid crystal elastomers, wherein the portions are arranged in discrete layers, each portion being a volume element defined by a z-dimension that is perpendicular to x-y dimensions,
• wherein the z-dimension of at least one of the portions is in a range of greater than 1.2 microns to less than 60 microns,
• wherein the liquid crystal elastomers in at least one of the portions of a first layer of the layers are substantially aligned in a predefined first orientation,
• wherein the liquid crystal elastomers in at least one of the portions of a second layer of the layers are substantially aligned in a predefined second orientation that is different than the first orientation, and
• wherein a contiguous region of aligned liquid crystal elastomers in one of the portions has a maximum dimension of less than 60 microns.