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To reduce surface loss in luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs), we systematically apply organic wavelength-selective mirrors, chiral nematic (cholesteric) liquid crystals, onto the LSCs with an air gap and determine their effect on waveguide output. The highest output is achieved using a scattering background and cholesteric mirror with a reflection band significantly redshifted (approximately 150 nm) from the emission peak of the fluorescent dye. The use of an air gap results in light bending away from the waveguide surface normal and, consequently, a redshift of the cholesteric mirrors is required. Up to 35% more dye-emitted light energy exits the waveguide edge after application of the cholesteric, and an increase in absolute edge power of 12% was found for a waveguide using a separate scatterer.

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The molecular order in a smectic monomer is utilized to create a photoreactive material that is highly polarization-selective during its photo-crosslinking polymerization. A dichroic photoinitiator adapts the molecular orientation of its aligned smectic B host monomer which reaches a degree of orientation larger than 0.9. This value correlates to a dichroic ratio, defined as the absorbance ratio of light with its polarization respectively parallel and perpendicular to the orientation axis, of 32. This is substantially higher than the dichroic ratio of similar dichroic initiators previously studied in nematic host monomers which considerably improves the polymerization contrast. The presence of an inhibitor, such as a hydroquinone, in the monomeric mixture enhances the polymerization contrast further. The effect of the inhibitor is due to the close to zero monomer to polymer conversion for the polarization perpendicular to the alignment in the initial stages of polymerization. It is argued that the high polarization-selectivity of the above-described system is potentially useful in nano and/or microstructuring techniques without the use of masks such as polarization holography.

Abstract. Laser direct-writing is an important technique for the fabrication of complex patterns. There is a continuous need for structures with increasingly small features, i.e., enhanced resolution. Focused radially polarized light is known to exhibit a narrow longitudinal polarization component. Here, a proof-of-concept is shown of enhanced resolution through polarization-selectivity by the selective recording of the longitudinal polarization component in a polarization-selective homeotropic and smectic B photoresist. The full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) of the fabricated spots in the polarization-selective resist is up to 56% smaller compared to the FWHM of the same spot in a photoresist that is not polarization-selective, which supports simulations that predict a theoretical maximum reduction of 62%. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

The copolymerization of styrene and n‐butyl acrylate in dioxane was monitored by on‐line Raman spectroscopy. The calculation of the individual monomer concentrations on the basis of the individual vinyl peaks is not straightforward for this system, as these bands are overlapping in the Raman spectrum. To tackle this problem, univariate and multivariate approaches were followed to obtain monomer concentrations and the results were validated by reference gas chromatography data. In the univariate analysis, linear relations between various monomer peaks were used to calculate monomer concentrations from the Raman data. In principal component analysis, the main variation in the spectra could be ascribed to conversion of monomer. Furthermore, principal component analysis pointed out that the second‐largest effect in the spectra could be attributed to experiment‐to‐experiment variation, probably attributable to instrumental factors. In the multivariate partial least squares regression approach, single factor models were used to calculate monomer concentrations. Both the univariate and the partial least squares regression approaches proved successful in calculating the individual monomer concentrations, showing very good agreement with off‐line gas chromatography data. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 79: 426–436, 2001

The copolymerization of styrene and n‐butyl acrylate in dioxane was monitored by on‐line Raman spectroscopy. The calculation of the individual monomer concentrations on the basis of the individual vinyl peaks is not straightforward for this system, as these bands are overlapping in the Raman spectrum. To tackle this problem, univariate and multivariate approaches were followed to obtain monomer concentrations and the results were validated by reference gas chromatography data. In the univariate analysis, linear relations between various monomer peaks were used to calculate monomer concentrations from the Raman data. In principal component analysis, the main variation in the spectra could be ascribed to conversion of monomer. Furthermore, principal component analysis pointed out that the second‐largest effect in the spectra could be attributed to experiment‐to‐experiment variation, probably attributable to instrumental factors. In the multivariate partial least squares regression approach, single factor models were used to calculate monomer concentrations. Both the univariate and the partial least squares regression approaches proved successful in calculating the individual monomer concentrations, showing very good agreement with off‐line gas chromatography data. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 79: 426–436, 2001

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