Chiral Parameter of Transparent Films Containing PolymerCholesteric Liquid Crystal-R

Abstract

The transparent film containing a kind of polymer cholestericliquid crystal-R was fabricated by the freezing method. The opticalpolarization response of the film was investigated by aself-manufactured apparatus and its optical rotatory dispersion wasmeasured by a novel technique at the wavelength from 350 nm to 660 nm. Atvarious wavelengths, the chiral parameter of the film has beenobtained. The results show that the chiral parameter decreases as thewavelength increases. The maximum and minimum chiral parameters are0.0343 at the wavelength of 350 nm and 0.0058 at the wavelength of660 nm, respectively. The obtained data indicate that this kind ofpolymer cholesteric liquid crystal-R is a promising candidate hostmaterial for solid optical chiral waveguides.