J4 ›› 2011, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (5): 622-628.

• Laser Applications • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Photochemical properties of bent-core liquid crystal containing azobenzene

CHEN Lan-Li, ZHANG Dan   

  1. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Institute of Technology, Nanyang 473004, China
  • Received:2010-07-23 Revised:2010-09-22 Published:2011-09-28 Online:2011-08-18

Abstract:

By triangular wave method, the effects of ultraviolet irradiation and temperature on the polarization of a bent-core liquid crystal containing azobenzene were studied. Under the 365nm ultraviolet irradiation,the switching currents were observed to change with the time of ultraviolet irradiation until they diminished. As the temperature increases from 150 to 175oC, the switching currents of the bent-core liquid crystal were observed to decrease linearly with temperature. The unusual temperature-dependent polarization was discussed in the light of Landau-de Gennes theory. The results demonstrated that photoisomerization, photolysis and thermolysis may take place in the bent-core liquid crystal containing azobenzene.

Key words: materials, bent-core liquid crystal, photoirradiation, spontaneous polarization

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