Thick polymer-stabilized liquid crystal films for microwave phase control

This article describes the use of thick polymer-stabilized liquid crystal films in a new design for microwave variable phase shifters. A fine μm-order sized polymer network was formed in a 100-μm-thick liquid crystal film, using a photopolymerization-induced phase-separation method to stabilize the molecular alignment of the liquid crystal. Measurement of the electro-optic properties of the liquid crystal film revealed that the relaxation response time of the liquid crystal alignment was drastically decreased by doping the polymer at a concentration of several wt %. A new variable phase shifter composed of a microstrip transmission line (length: 193 mm, width: 200 μm) was also fabricated by using the liquid crystal film as the dielectric material. This device exhibited a microwave phase shift of −80° at a frequency of 20 GHz, when a drive voltage of 70 Vrms was applied vertically to the liquid crystal film.