Rewritable Optical Storage with a Spiropyran Doped Liquid Crystal Polymer Film

Abstract

Rewritable optical storage has been obtained in a spiropyran doped liquid crystal polymer films. Pictures can be recorded on films upon irradiation with UV light passing through a grayscale mask and they can be rapidly erased using visible light. Films present improved photosensitivity and optical contrast, good resistance to photofatigue, and high spatial resolution. These photochromic films work as a multifunctional, dynamic photosensitive material with a real-time image recording feature.

Keywords: films; patterned images; photochromism; polymer dispersed liquid crystals; spiropyrans.