Intrinsic response of polymer liquid crystals in photochemical phase transition

Time-resolved measurements were performed on the photochemically induced isothermal phase transition of polymer liquid crystals (PLC) with mesogenic side chains of phenyl benzoate (PAPB3) and cyanobiphenyl (PACB3) under conditions wherein the photochemical reaction of the doped photoresponsive molecule (4-butyl-4-{prime}-methoxyazobenzene, BMAB) was completed within {approximately} 10 ns, and the subsequent phase transition of the matrix PLC from nematic (N) to isotropic (I) state was followed by time-resolved measurements of the birefringence of the system. Formation of a sufficient amount of the cis isomer of BMAB with a single pulse of a laser lowered the N-I phase transition temperature of the mixture, inducing the N-I phase transition of PLCs isothermally in a time range of {approximately} 200 ms. This time range is comparable to that of low molecular weight liquid crystals, indicating that suppression in mobility of mesogens in PLCs does not affect significantly the thermodynamically controlled process.