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ABSTRACT Chiral nematic liquid crystals—otherwise referred to as cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs)—are self-organized helical superstructures that find practical application in, for

example, thermography1, reflective displays2, tuneable colour filters3,4 and mirrorless lasing5,6. Dynamic, remote and three-dimensional control over the helical axis of CLCs is desirable,

but challenging7,8. For example, the orientation of the helical axis relative to the substrate can be changed from perpendicular to parallel by applying an alternating-current electric

field9, by changing the anchoring conditions of the substrate, or by altering the topography of the substrate’s surface10,11,12,13,14,15,16; separately, in-plane rotation of the helical axis

parallel to the substrate can be driven by a direct-current field17,18,19. Here we report three-dimensional manipulation of the helical axis of a CLC, together with inversion of its

handedness, achieved solely with a light stimulus. We use this technique to carry out light-activated, wide-area, reversible two-dimensional beam steering—previously accomplished using

complex integrated systems20 and optical phased arrays21. During the three-dimensional manipulation by light, the helical axis undergoes, in sequence, a reversible transition from

perpendicular to parallel, followed by in-plane rotation on the substrate surface. Such reversible manipulation depends on experimental parameters such as cell thickness, surface anchoring

condition, and pitch length. Because there is no thermal relaxation, the system can be driven either forwards or backwards from any light-activated intermediate state. We also describe

reversible photocontrol between a two-dimensional diffraction state, a one-dimensional diffraction state and a diffraction ‘off’ state in a bilayer cell. Access through your institution Buy

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OTHERS DYNAMIC CONTROL OF ACTIVE DROPLETS USING LIGHT-RESPONSIVE CHIRAL LIQUID CRYSTAL ENVIRONMENT Article Open access 21 June 2024 DIGITAL PHOTOPROGRAMMING OF LIQUID-CRYSTAL SUPERSTRUCTURES

FEATURING INTRINSIC CHIRAL PHOTOSWITCHES Article 03 March 2022 CHIRAL EMERGENCE IN MULTISTEP HIERARCHICAL ASSEMBLY OF ACHIRAL CONJUGATED POLYMERS Article Open access 18 May 2022 REFERENCES

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Article  CAS  Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Q.L. acknowledges support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR; grant no. FA9950-09-1-0193) and the Air

Force Research Laboratory. Z.Z. acknowledges receipt of a Scholarship supported by the China Scholarship Council. T.J.B. acknowledges support from the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate

and the AFOSR. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Liquid Crystal Institute and Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program, Kent State University, Kent, 44242, Ohio, USA Zhi-gang

Zheng, Yannian Li, Hari Krishna Bisoyi, Ling Wang & Quan Li * Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, 45433, Ohio, USA Timothy J.

Bunning Authors * Zhi-gang Zheng View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Yannian Li View author publications You can also search for this

author inPubMed Google Scholar * Hari Krishna Bisoyi View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Ling Wang View author publications You can also

search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Timothy J. Bunning View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Quan Li View author publications

You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS Q.L. and T.J.B. designed the research; Z.Z. carried out the experiments; Y.L. synthesized the chiral dopant; Q.L.,

Z.Z. and H.K.B. prepared the manuscript; Z.Z, Y.L., H.K.B., L.W., T.J.B. and Q.L. interpreted the results and contributed to manuscript editing. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Quan

Li. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing financial interests. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION This file contains Supplementary Text

and Data, Supplementary Figures 1-15 and additional references. (PDF 2300 kb) POWERPOINT SLIDES POWERPOINT SLIDE FOR FIG. 1 POWERPOINT SLIDE FOR FIG. 2 POWERPOINT SLIDE FOR FIG. 3 POWERPOINT

SLIDE FOR FIG. 4 RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Zheng, Zg., Li, Y., Bisoyi, H. _et al._ Three-dimensional control of the helical axis

of a chiral nematic liquid crystal by light. _Nature_ 531, 352–356 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17141 Download citation * Received: 30 October 2015 * Accepted: 18 January 2016 *

Published: 07 March 2016 * Issue Date: 17 March 2016 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17141 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

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