How to broaden the light reflection band in cholesteric liquid crystals? A new approach based on polymorphism

Cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) may selectively reflect light when the helicoidal pitch is of the order of the wavelength of the incident beam propagating along the helix axis. The reflection bandwidth is dependent on the birefringence and is limited to a few tens of nanometers, which is insufficient for applications such as white-on-black reflective displays. Recent studies have shown that CLC polymer networks with a pitch gradient induce a broadening of the reflection bandwidth over several hundreds of nanometers. Most related processes rely on photocrosslinking reactions with a UV-gradient in a mixture made of chiral and achiral monomers with different UV-reactivities. Here a new experimental route exploiting the polymorphism of the mixture is presented. The basic concept lies in a thermally-induced pitch variation simultaneously carried out with the UV-crosslinking reaction. The optical behaviour is investigated in parallel with the cross-sectional microstructure as observed by transmission electron microscopy.