title: Light-controllable linear dichroism in nematics.
abstract: We report a method to obtain a light-controllable dichroism. The main effect is achieved using spiropyran-doped (SP-doped) nematic liquid crystal mixtures. SP molecules exhibit a high solubility in the liquid crystal host, which can vary between 1% and 4% in weight, without destroying the liquid crystalline phase. Due to their elongated shape, SP molecules are oriented along the nematic liquid crystal director. The obtained linear dichroism was measured to be 1.08 with a dichroic ratio of 7.12. Further, a two-direction linear dichroism was obtained by adding a dichroic dye to the mixture. The angle between the two dichroic axes was found to be 11°. Two-direction linear dichroism is also light controllable and can be switched back to one-direction dichroism.
authors.forename: Gia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Petriashvili
authors.forename: Ridha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hamdi
authors.forename: Maria Penelope
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: De Santo
authors.forename: Ramla
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gary
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barberi