A shape-programmable liquid crystal elastomer comprises polymerized, nematic monomers. The monomers are organized into a plurality of voxels with each voxel having a director orientation.

The problem that the present invention is to solve is to provide an optical film that has less alignment defects and is less liable to cause variation in the optical characteristics when placed in a high temperature state. The present invention provides an optical film containing a structural unit derived from a specific compound, that is, an optical film containing a structural unit derived from a compound represented by the general formula (I), which has less alignment defects and is less liable to cause variation in the optical characteristics when placed in a high temperature state, and also provides a display device including the optical film.

A method of making a shape-programmable liquid crystal elastomer. The method includes preparing an alignment cell having a surface programmed with a plurality of domains. A cavity of the alignment cell is filled with a monomer solution. The monomers of the monomer solution are configured to align to the surface of the alignment cell. The aligned monomers are polymerized by Michael Addition. The polymerized monomers are then cross-linked to form a cross-linked liquid crystal elastomer. The cross-linking traps monomer alignment into a plurality of voxels with each voxel having a director orientation.

A tunable film apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: first and second layers; a tunable liquid crystal layer disposed between the first and second layers; and a tuner configured to tune the liquid crystal layer to adjust a light diffusing angle of the tunable liquid crystal layer.

The present invention provides a fluorine-containing liquid crystal polymer of Formula (1). The present invention also discloses a fluorine-containing liquid crystal elastomer, which comprises a copolymer of a fluorine-containing liquid crystal polymer of Formula (1) with a near-infrared dye of Formula (2). The fluorine-containing liquid crystal elastomer of the present invention shrinks due to the photothermal conversion effect of the material under the irradiation of near-infrared light, and thus is widely applicable to the field of actuators. The fluorine-containing liquid crystal polymer of the present invention introduces fluorine-containing segments into the cross-linked network of the liquid crystal polymer, to improve the mechanical performance of the material, and greatly extend the service time of light-controlled actuators.

The present invention has an object to provide a polymerizable liquid crystal composition capable of manufacturing an optically anisotropic film having excellent light fastness; and an optically anisotropic film, an optical film, a polarizing plate, an image display device, and an organic electroluminescent display device, each of which uses the polymerizable liquid crystal composition. The polymerizable liquid crystal composition of an embodiment of the present invention contains a polymerizable liquid crystal compound having reverse-wavelength dispersion properties and an ultraviolet absorber represented by Formula (1), in which a maximum absorption wavelength A of the polymerizable liquid crystal compound and a maximum absorption wavelength B of the ultraviolet absorber satisfy Formula (2), and a content of the ultraviolet absorber is 1% to 20% by mass with respect to a content of the polymerizable liquid crystal compound.

##STR00001##

An actuator device comprises a stack formed from a plurality of photoresponsive layers, which deform in response to light, which are partitioned by respective deformable non-photoresponsive layers. The deformable non-photoresponsive layers guide light between and to the photoresponsive layers, and can follow the deformation of the photoresponsive layers.

The invention relates to novel anisotropic compounds of formula (I) ##STR00001##
as well as liquid crystalline mixtures, films and electro-optical devices comprising the compound.

A non-linear side chain liquid crystal polyorganosiloxane differs from previous side chain liquid crystal polyorganosiloxanes. A method for preparing the non-linear side chain liquid crystal polyorganosiloxane involves hydrosilylation reaction of a SiH rich intermediate with an aliphatically unsaturated mesogenic compound. A liquid crystal composition containing the non-linear side chain liquid crystal polyorganosiloxane is useful in dynamic scattering mode electro-optic device for various applications.

A shape-programmable liquid crystal elastomer comprises polymerized, nematic monomers. The monomers are organized into a plurality of voxels with each voxel having a director orientation.