Paper like cholesteric interferential mirror

A new type of flexible cholesteric liquid crystal mirror is presented. The simple and effective method for the deposition of a cholesteric mixture on a paper substrate and the particular design of the device give a homogeneous alignment of the cholesteric texture providing mirrors with an intense and uniform light reflectance. A desired polarization state for the reflected light, linear or circular, can be easily obtained varying the thickness and optical anisotropy of the polymer cover film. By using non-azobenzene based photosensitive materials a permanent array of RGB mirrors with high reflectivity can be obtained on the same device. Paper like reflective mirrors are versatile and they can find applications in reflective displays, adaptive optics, UV detectors and dosimeters, information recording, medicine and IR converters. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America