We present the simultaneous electro-optical and electro-mechanical effects in the nematic elastomers swollen by a low molecular-
mass liquid crystal (LMMLC). Under electric fields normal to the initial director, the swollen nematic
elastomers exhibit a pronounced change in effective birefringence as a result of director rotation, and they also show a
macroscopic strain of more than 10%. This paper mainly focuses on the dynamic aspect of this phenomenon. We
evaluate the rise and decay times for the electro-optical and electro-mechanical effects in response to "field-on" and
"field-off". The rise time for the optical response at sufficiently high fields reaches a few milliseconds which are
comparable to that of LMMLCs. The optical decay times lie about 5 ms (independently of field strength) that is more
than two orders of magnitude smaller than that of LMMLCs with the similar cell thickness, because the modulus of
rubber elasticity overwhelms the Frank elasticity. The mechanical response is slower than the optical response, but the
ratio of the two characteristic times (about 10) is almost independent of field strength as well as whether the field is
imposed or removed.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.