Effect of Monomer Functionality on Performance of Holographically-Formed Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals

Abstract Reflection gratings are formed holographically in polymer dispersed material. The effect of polymer functionality on the reflective display performance characteristics of these materials is investigated. Commercial urethane resins of functionality 2, 3, and 6 are used as base materials to create integer and half-integer effective functionalities from 2 to 6. Our results reveal an optimum reflectance at an effective functionality of 4.5.