Liquid crystal ordering by freezing of thermal convective motion in Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals

This paper reports on the first observation of thermal convective motion in high-intensity photocured PDLC mixtures and demonstrates the possibility of LC ordering through the freezing of this thermal convective motion. The dependence of laser-cured PDLC films morphology on curing parameters such as light intensity, curing time, and sample temperature have also been studied. It is shown that the transition between ordered columnar and disordered turbulent motion is possible by increasing the laser beam intensity and that the flow patterns associated with both these regimes can be frozen by the photopolymerization process.