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AssigneeKent State University
InventorsJoseph W. Doane, John L. West
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A haze-free light modulating polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) material is disclosed which comprises a polymer which is birefringent and possesses anisotropic optical properties similar to those of the dispersed liquid crystal such that the PDLC material in its transparent state exhibits a refractive index that is matched for all directions of incident light providing for an optically clear, scatter-free film for all angles of view. Electrooptic light shutters are possible from this material which are transparent in the field OFF-state and opaque in the field ON-state or vice versa, depending upon the liquid crystal phase structure and configuration of the light shutter device.
A method of making a light modulating liquid crystal material having the characteristic of displaying haze-free transparency for all directions of incident light comprising the steps of forming a liquid crystal phase interspersed with a birefringent, light transmissive polymeric phase, the liquid crystal phase and polymer phase having matched ordinary and extraordinary indices of refraction and aligning the optical axis of the polymer phase relative to a surface of the material, whereby haze-free transparency is obtained by aligning the optical axis of the liquid crystal phase parallel to the optical axis of the polymer phase, and the material is rendered opaque by mismatching the effective refractive indices of the liquid crystal phase and polymer phase.
A method of making a liquid crystal light modulating material comprising the steps of forming a solution of liquid crystal, curing agent, and uncured synthetic resin, one of the curing agent or resin having mesogenic units, and thereafter curing the solution to induce spontaneous formation of a liquid crystal phase interspersed with a liquid-crystal-side-group polymeric synthetic resin phase, the step of curing the solution being carried out in an electric or magnetic field effective to align the liquid-crystal side-groups and the liquid crystal phase and the mesogenic units being selected to have matching ordinary and extraordinary indices of refraction after the resin is cured to provide haze-free transparency in one of a field-ON or field-OFF condition.
A method of making a liquid crystal light modulating material comprising the steps of forming a solution of liquid crystal, mesogenic synthetic resin, and a solvent, and thereafter removing the solvent to induce spontaneous formation of a liquid crystal phase interspersed with a liquid-crystal-side-group polymeric synthetic resin phase, the step of removing the solvent being carried out in an external electric or magnetic field effective to align liquid-crystal-side-groups of the polymeric phase and the liquid crystal phase and the polymeric phase having matched ordinary and extraordinary indices of refraction to provide haze-free transparency in one of a field-ON or field-OFF condition.
A method of making a liquid crystal light modulating material comprising the steps of heating a mixture of liquid crystal and a birefringent synthetic liquid-crystalline-side-group resin to form a homogeneous solution of the liquid crystal and resin, and thereafter cooling the solution to induce spontaneous formation of a liquid crystal phase interspersed with a polymer phase having liquid-crystalline-side-groups, the step of cooling the solution being carried out in an external electric or magnetic field effective to align the liquid-crystal-side-groups and the liquid crystal phase and the liquid-crystalline-side-groups having matching ordinary and extraordinary indices of refraction to provide haze-free transparency in one of a field-ON or field-OFF condition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.