Direct image of a molecular orientation of a liquid crystal using directional polymerization of photoreactive mesogen

Abstract

We present a method for visualizing the geometrical distribution of a liquid crystal (LC) arrangement using the replication of the molecular orientation by a mixture of alignment layers. We found that the anisotropic diffusion of the reactive mesogen (RM) monomers, mixed with an alignment layer, in contact with the LC was governed by the LC director through application of external voltage and allowed the directional polymerization under ultraviolet light illumination. The directional polymerization of a RM transferred and visualized the LC arrangement even at optically indistinct LC distributions.