Angular-Dependent Back-Reflection of Chiral-Nematic Liquid Crystal Microparticles as Multifunctional Optical Elements

Abstract

The development of multifunctional optical elements capable of controlling polarization, wavelength, and propagation direction is pivotal for the miniaturization of optical devices. However, designing the spatial distribution of the refractive index for the fabrication of such elements remains challenging. This study demonstrates the spectroscopic function of microparticles composed of chiral-nematic liquid crystals (N* LC), which inherently selectively reflect circularly polarized light. The measurement of the reflection spectra with fiber probes revealed angular-dependent back-reflection of the single layer of the N* LC particles. These results indicate that our N* LC microparticles possess multiple optical functions, enabling the separation of incident light polarization and wavelength within a single material. This suggests broad applications of N* LC particles as compact optical elements.

Keywords

• chiral-nematic liquid crystals
• polymer particles
• selective reflection
• optical elements