The present disclosure relates to formulations having one, two, or more chiral dopants, as well as materials and methods including such formulations. In particular instances, the formulation can include an achiral host, such as a nematic substance.

The present disclosure provides a decorative film including a base material and an optical reflective layer coloring by optical interference or structural color, in which at least two or more layers of the optical reflective layer are laminated, and diffuse reflectivities of the respective optical reflective layers are different from each other, or a printing layer is laminated between the respective optical reflective layers; a decorative molded article; a decorative panel; and an electronic device.

The invention relates to a light modulation element comprising a polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystalline medium sandwiched between two substrates (1), provided with a common electrode structure (2) and a driving electrode structure (3) individually, wherein the substrate with driving and/or common electrode structure is additionally provided with an alignment electrode structure (4) which is separated from the driving and or common electrode structure on the same substrate by an dielectric layer (5), characterized in that the light modulation element comprises at least one alignment layer (6) directly adjacent to the liquid crystalline medium.

The invention is further relates to a method of production of said light modulation element and to the use of said light modulation element in various types of optical and electro-optical devices, such as electro-optical displays, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), non-linear optic (NLO) devices, and optical information storage devices.

The invention relates to a light modulation element, preferably exploiting the flexoelectric effect comprising a cholesteric liquid crystalline medium sandwiched between two substrates (1), each provided with an electrode structure (2), wherein at least one of the substrates is provided with a photoresist pattern consisting of periodic substantially parallel stripes (3) which is additionally provided with an alignment layer (4). The invention is further related to a method of production of said light modulation element and to the use of said light modulation element in various types of optical and electro-optical devices, such as electro-optical displays, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), non-linear optic (NLO) devices, and optical information storage devices.

Described is a chiral liquid crystal polymer (CLCP) layer or pattern which comprises randomly distributed craters of controlled mean diameter and/or density. The density and/or mean diameter of the craters can be controlled, for example, by adjusting the wetting of a substrate by a CLCP precursor composition, the development time of the precursor composition, and the thickness of the applied precursor composition.

The invention relates to a light modulation element comprising a cholesteric liquid crystalline medium sandwiched between two substrates, each provided with an electrode structure, wherein at least one of the substrates is additionally provided with an alignment layer which is provided with a photoresist pattern consisting of periodic substantially parallel stripes. The invention is further related to a method of production of said light modulation element and to the use of said light modulation element in various types of optical and electro-optical devices, such as electro-optical displays, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), non-linear optic (NLO) devices, and optical information storage devices.

A grating is provided. The grating includes a first substrate and a second substrate opposite the first substrate, a plurality of first transparent electrodes arranged at equal intervals along a surface of the first substrate and between the first substrate and the second substrate, and a plurality of second transparent electrodes each arranged along a surface of the second substrate and opposite to a respective one of the plurality of first transparent electrodes, and a liquid crystal mixture layer arranged between each pair of the first transparent electrodes and respective second transparent electrodes, wherein a liquid crystal mixture in the liquid crystal mixture layer is switchable between a smectic phase and a cholesteric phase such that the liquid crystal mixture is transparent in the smectic phase and black in the cholesteric phase.

The invention relates to bimesogenic compounds of formula I

##STR00001##

wherein R.sup.11, R.sup.12, MG.sup.11, MG.sup.12, X.sup.11, X.sup.12 and Sp.sup.1 have the meaning given in claim 1, to the use of bimesogenic compounds of formula I in liquid crystal media and particular to flexoelectric liquid crystal devices comprising a liquid crystal medium according to the present invention.

An object of the present invention is to provide a structure having a reflective layer that has satisfactory transparency and diffuse reflectivity and is also capable of reducing the occurrence of glare, and a method for forming the reflective layer. The object of the present invention is achieved by a structure including a substrate and a reflective layer formed by immobilizing a cholesteric liquid crystalline phase, in which, upon observing a cross section of the reflective layer by a scanning electron microscope, lines formed by bright portions and lines formed by dark portions derived from the cholesteric liquid crystalline phase have a wave-like structure or are inclined with respect to the surface of the substrate, and at least a part of the lines formed by the bright portions and the lines formed by the dark portions are discontinuous.

The present invention relates to polymerizable liquid crystalline formulations and especially to an ink formulation for inkjet printing comprising 10 to 50% w/w of one or more polymerizable liquid crystalline compounds and 50 to 90% w/w of one or more organic solvents selected from the group of aliphatic ketones, cyclic ketones, alkyl ethers of ethylene glycol or propylene glycol, alkyl esters of menthyl or aromatic solvents.