Dynamic switching of the circularly polarized luminescence of disubstituted polyacetylene by selective transmission through a thermotropic chiral nematic liquid crystal.

Abstract

The circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) of chiral disubstituted liquid-crystalline polyacetylene (di-LCPA) can be dynamically switched and amplified from left- to right-handed CPL and vice versa through the selective transmission of CPL across a thermotropic chiral nematic liquid crystal (N*-LC) phase. By combining a chiral di-LCPA CPL-emitting film with an N*-LC cell and tuning the selective reflection band of the N*-LC phase to coincide with the CPL emission band, a CPL-switchable cell was constructed. The phase change induced by the thermotropic N*-LC cell by varying the temperature leads to a change in the selective transmission of CPL, which enables the dynamic switching and amplification of CPL. It is anticipated that CPL-switchable devices might find applications in switchable low-threshold lasers and optical memory devices.