Kinetics of droplet formation in UV-cured polymer-dispersed liquid crystal films

Abstract

The kinetics of liquid crystal (LC) droplet formation in a UV-cured polymer has been studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). We discuss a physical mechanism for the change in refractive index of the polymer matrix. The influence of initial condition of polymerisation on the optical characterstics of polymer-dispersed LC (PDLC) films has been investigated. The extremely important problem of optimising the contrast of PDLC displays is also discussed.