ELECTRONICALLY-CONTROLLABLE FILTER BASED ON POLYMER DISPERSED LIQUID CRYSTAL MATERIALS

ELECTRO-OPTIC MATERIALS CONSISTING OF RANDOM DISPERSION OF NEMATIC LIQUID-CRYSTAL MICRODROPLETS EMBEDDED IN AN ISOTROPIC TRANSPARENT POLYMERIC MEDIA (OR POLYMER DISPERSED LIQUID CRYSTALS (PDLC)) WERE DEVELOPED AT ADVANCED SURFACE TECHNOLOGY, INC. (AST) FOR USE IN OPTICAL AND ELECTRO-OPTICAL DEVICES. PDLC MATERIALS CAN BE APPLIED AS A TUNABLE OPTICAL FILTER WHICH CAN RESPOND TO AN ELECTRIC FIELD AND CAUSE A SELECTED ATTENUATION OF OPTICAL RADIATION FROM FAR INFRARED THROUGH ULTRAVIOLET WAVELENGTHS, WHICH CAN BE USED FOR FAST ELECTRICAL CONTROL OF THE VISUAL AND INFRARED SIGNATURES OR WINDOWS OF AIRCRAFTS, SHIPS, AND LAND VEHICLES. THE ELECTRO-OPTIC PROPERTIES OF PDLC FILMS ARE DEPENDENT UPON THE TYPES OF MATERIALS USED, THE DROPLET MORPHOLOGY AND THE METHOD OF FILM CONSTRUCTION. THE DESIRABLE PROPERTIES INCLUDE HIGH CLARITY AND TRANSMISSION OF THE FILM IN THE ON AND OFF STATES, LOW DRIVING VOLTAGE, LOW POWER CONSUMPTION, AND FAST SWITCHING TIMES. IN THIS PHASE I PROGRAM, WE WILL STUDY SOME OF THE POSSIBLE PDLC FABRICATION TECHNIQUES AND HOW THESE FABRICATIONS WILL AFFECT THE OPTO-ELECTRONIC PROPERTIES OF THE PDLC MATERIALS. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS - THE POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS FOR PDLC MATERIALS ARE EXPECTED IN THE AREAS OF LARGE ARE ELECTRO-OPTIC DISPLAYS, THERMAL INDICATORS, LIGHT VALVES, SOLAR CONTROL WINDOWS, IR MODULATORS, SWITCHABLE WINDOWS, AND HIGH DEFINITION SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATORS.