Electrically controllable optical element made of an optically isotropic liquid, in particular lens, and method for the production thereof on the basis of liquid composites

2:

• The electrically controllable optical element according to claim 1, wherein the two spaced-apart substrates of the thin-film cell are glass or polymer substrates, wherein the inner surface of each substrate comprises a conductive ΓΓO electrode as the conductive layer, wherein an orientation layer is applied on the conductive layer, and wherein a pre-stamping for the wide-meshed, anisotropic polymer network takes place by means of cooling an admixture of photoinitiators, aliphatic monomers and reactive mesogens of the Kerr liquid, aligning the rod-shaped molecules by applying the voltage and irradiating the Kerr liquid with UV radiation.

3:

• The electrically controllable optical element according to claim 2, wherein the orientation layer contains photocrosslinkable or photopolymerizable groups that promote a homeotropic orientation, and wherein the anisotropic network is covalently fixed to the two substrate such that the anisotropic network is maintained even in the isotropization of the Kerr liquid by increasing the working temperature region to approximately room temperature.

4:

• The electrically controllable optical element according to claim 1, wherein the rod-shaped molecules having a large dipole moment as active composites of the Kerr liquid are fixed in a form of nanoscale clusters or nanoparticles in the wide-meshed, anisotropic polymer network, wherein fixation of formanisotropic molecules in the network takes place by non-covalent intermolecular interactions, and wherein the molecular clusters or spherical and aspherical nanoparticles of a precursor mixture are dispersed such that an increasing of the Kerr effect by high stable orientation order of the ordered fixed clusters or nanoparticles is achieved and temperature dependence of the Kerr effect in solutions or LC materials is minimized above a clearing point.

5:

• The electrically controllable optical element according to claim 4, wherein the intermolecular interactions of the formanisotropic molecules are formed based on hydrogen bonds, ionic interactions and ππ-interactions of pyridine/acid or acid/acid, and wherein the different temperature dependence of the intermolecular interactions and the pre-orientation-effect is used to stabilize the Kerr effect.

6:

• The electrically controllable optical element according to claim 1, wherein non-rod-shaped semi-mesogens are formed as active composites of the Kerr liquid by intermolecular non-covalent interactions, and wherein a temperature increase leads to weakening of the non-covalent interactions such that complexes of the non-rod shaped semi-mesogens are partially degraded.

7:

• The electrically controllable optical element according to claim 6, wherein to synthesize isotropic semi-mesogens having a high dielectric and optical anisotropy, substituents in a para position of a biphenyl structure according to
• are inserted as a polar head group, where R1 is selected from the group consisting of —CN, —NCS, —F, —Br and —Cl.

8:

• The electrically controllable optical element according to claim 6, wherein by an exchange of phenyl rings for heteroaromatic cores in semi-mesogens having a pyrimidin-ring and variation of the head group according to
• where R1 is selected from the group consisting of —CN, —NCS, —F, —Br and —Cl, a permanent dipole moment and thus a dielectric anisotropy of the semi-mesogens are increased.

10:

• The method according to claim 9, wherein an orientation layer leading to a homeotropic orientation contains photocrosslinkable or photopolymerizable groups.