A new main-chain thermotropic liquid-crystalline polymer based on a substituted cyanostilbene: synthesis, thermo-optic observations and linear electro-optic effect measurements

J. Tsibouklis*, P. H. Richardson, A. M. Ahmed, R. W. Richards, W. J. Feast, S. J. Martin, D. D. C. Bradley, Mark Warner

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A main-chain liquid-crystalline polymer based on an unsymmetrically disubstituted cyanostilbene has been synthesized and characterized. The polymer exhibited a highly birefringent nematic texture, followed at higher temperatures by a uniaxial nematic structure the scattering characteristics of which were two to three orders of magnitude smaller than those normally observed in liquid-crystalline materials. Thin solid films prepared by rapid cooling of the polymer in the monotropic state retained the molecular organization and scattering behaviour of this phase. A preliminary evaluation of the second-order nonlinear optical properties associated with these film structures was carried out by means of a crossed polarizer technique.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)159-162
Number of pages4
JournalSynthetic Metals
Volume61
Issue number1-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Nov 1993

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