| abstract |
Broadly, then, one aspect of the present invention is a functional optical material composed of a liquid crystal (LC) evidencing a pair of refractive indices (RI's) and a polymer in which the LC is dispersed. The refractive index (RI) of said polymer may be outside of the L C RI's by at least about 0.03. Another aspect of the present invention is a functional optical material composed of a liquid crystal (LC) and a polymer in which the LC is dispersed, wherein said LC is less than about 5% miscible in said polymer. A further aspect of the present invention is a functional optical material composed of a liquid crystal (LC) and a polymer in which the LC is dispersed, wherein the cladding contains not more than about 20 wt-% LC. In all of these embodiments, the functional optical material can be clad to an optical waveguide and can optionally contain a chromophore. In yet another aspect of the present invention, a functional optical waveguide is composed of a polymer having a refractive index, RI P and an optical waveguide clad having a refractive index, RI WG , wherein RI P is at least about 0.3% lower than RI WG under operating conditions of said clad optical waveguide. |