Data for Embossing Reactive Mesogens: A Facile Approach to Polarisation-Independent Liquid Crystal Devices

Reactive mesogens (RMs) have found their way into different branches of science and application. They can be processed as standard liquid crystals and can then be polymerised to stabilise their shape and anisotropic properties. Their birefringence is used in optical compensation films while the complex director field is exploited for actuators. However, creating complex shapes while maintaining good alignment is a challenge in these applications. In the present work, the embossing of reactive mesogens is introduced. Embossing is a fast and large-scale method, which allows to form a large variety of structured reactive mesogen devices. To create a polarisation-independent lens, two birefringent Fresnel zone plates (FZPs) are embossed. A lens is formed by assembling the FZPs in a twisted nematic cell and filling the cell with a nematic crystal index matched to the RM. The device can be switched from a non-focusing to a focusing state by applying a small voltage. After characterising the efficiency and beam properties, the method is used to fabricate a switchable multi-level Fresnel zone plate with optical efficiencies beyond 50%. Finally, manufactured polarisation-independent gratings and microlens arrays are presented using the method to illustrate the wide range of applicability.