Effect of surfactant on the electro-optical properties of holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal Bragg gratings

The effect of surfactants on the electro-optical properties of holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal (HPDLC) Bragg gratings was studied in detail. The experimental results showed that surfactants could effectively reduce the driving voltage. The morphologies of HPDLC Bragg grating surface were also investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The threshold electric field was reduced from 13 V/μm to about 2.3 V/μm and the switching electric field was 27.3 V/μm. The rising time and the falling time were 60 μs and 80 μs, respectively.