Tuning selective reflection of light by surface anchoring in cholesteric cells with oblique helicoidal structures

Abstract

Selective reflection of light by oblique helicoidal cholesteric (ChOH) can be tuned in a very broad spectral range by an applied electric field. In this work, we demonstrate that the peak wavelength of the selective reflection can be controlled by surface alignment of the director in sandwich cells. The peak wavelength is blue-shifted when the surface alignment is perpendicular to the bounding plates and red-shifted when it is planar. The effect is explained by the electric field redistribution within the cell caused by spatially varying heliconical ChOH structure. The observed phenomenon can be used in sensing applications.

arXiv comment8 pages, 3 figures

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Cited by in corpus (3)

• Twist-bend nematics and heliconical cholesterics: a physico-chemical analysis of phase transitions and related specific properties
• Dual tunability of selective reflection by light and electric field for self-organizing materials
• In-situ measurements of twist and bend elastic constants in oblique helicoidal cholesteric