Always Cholesterics…but Sometimes Chiral Smectic C, TGB and Blue Phases

Abstract

Cholesteric liquid crystals Chiral Smectic C and pretransitional twist grain boundary and blue phases, owing the self-organized periodical structure, sensitive to external fields, have provide several possibilities for construction new photonic and optoelectronic devices. In the optically controlled condensed matter systems department of the Institute of Cybernetics of Georgia the extensive investigation of chiral liquid crystals are carried out since 1972. In the present report, results obtained by Georgian group and also in collaboration with scientists Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, USA will be reviewed, paying a special attention to electrooptics and photoptics of this chiral liquidcrystalline phases and practical application for creation image converters, UV sensors, displays and compact broadband tunable lasers.

Acknowledgments

This article is dedicated to the memory of my wife Stella Chilaya.