Preparation of 3D photonic lattice by liquid crystals and its structural analyses

Periodic refractive index materials are known to allow the manipulation of photons in analogy to the manipulation of electrons by the periodic potential of semiconductors. In this study, the photonic materials with highly ordered photonic lattices were prepared based on polymer-stabilized liquid crystalline blue phases which form a three-dimensionaly periodic molecular alignment on the order of optical wavelength in a broad temperature range. The large-size monodomain of the polymer-stabilized blue phase of which (110) plane was oriented in the direction parallel to the substrate surface was successfully prepared by a surface alignment effect. The periodic structure corresponding to the (110) plane of the polymer-stabilized blue phase was directly observed by the confocal laser microscope.