Photoluminescence and electroluminescence measurements on InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW) structures and light emitting diodes suggest that QWs with gross fluctuations in width (formed when, during growth, the InGaN is exposed unprotected to high temperatures) give higher room temperature quantum efficiencies than continuous QWs. The efficiency does not depend on the growth temperature of the GaN barriers. Temperature-dependent electroluminescence measurements suggest that the higher efficiency results from higher activation energies for defect-related non-radiative recombination in QW samples with gaps. At high currents the maximum quantum efficiency is similar for all samples, indicating the droop term is not dependent on QW morphology.

Two‐photon laser writing is a powerful technique for creating intricate, high resolution features in polymerizable materials. Here, using a single‐step process to microfabricate polymer inclusions, the ability to generate read‐on‐demand images and identification codes in a liquid crystal (LC) device is demonstrated. These micrometer‐sized polymer features are encoded directly into LC devices using direct laser writing, which locks‐in the local molecular orientation at the moment of fabrication. By reading the devices with the same voltage amplitude that is used to write the polymer structures, features can be made to disappear as the director profile becomes homogeneous with the surrounding regions, effectively cloaking the structure for both polarized and unpolarized light. It is shown how this process can be used to create micrometer‐scale reconfigurable emoticons and quick‐response codes within a fully assembled LC device, with potential use in authenticity and identification applications.

Self-assembled periodic structures based upon chiral liquid crystalline materials have significant potential in the field of photonics ranging from fast-switching optoelectronic devices to lowthreshold lasers. The flexoelectro-optic effect, which is observed in chiral nematic liquid crystals (LCs) when an electric field is applied perpendicular to the helical axis, has significant potential as it exhibits analogue switching in 10-100 ls. However, the major technological barrier that prohibits the commercial realisation of this electro-optic effect is the requirement of a uniform, in-plane alignment of the helix axis between glass substrates. Here, it is shown that periodic polymer structures engineered in the nematic phase of a chiral nematic LC device using direct laser writing can result in the spontaneous formation of the necessary uniform lying helix (ULH) state. Specifically, two-photon polymerization is used in conjunction with a spatial light modulator so as to correct for aberrations introduced by the bounding glass substrates enabling the polymer structures to be fabricated directly into the device. The ULH state appears to be stable in the absence of an externally applied electric field, and the optimum contrast between the bright and dark states is obtained using polymer structures that have periodicities of the order of the device thickness.

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A uniform lying helix (ULH) alignment of cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) is obtained using a solvent evaporation technique. The solvent evaporation method allows for the spontaneous formation of a virtually defect-free alignment, even in the absence of an external electric field. The small amount of solvent diffuses into the LC and changes its phase into the isotropic state where the individual LC molecules are more mobile. As the solvent diffuses out of the LC and consequently evaporates, additional mobility provided by the solvent allows the molecules to reach the lowest energy configuration, dictated by the boundary conditions, the solvent evaporation direction and the elastic forces among the molecules. Compared to a shear-flow-induced alignment, the solvent-induced ULH exhibits a contrast ratio between the bright and dark states that is a factor of 4 greater, due to the low number of defects in the structure. From measurements of the flexoelectro-optic effect, the difference between the splay and bend flexoelectric coefficients, e1 − e3, for the nematic LC E7 is found to be in agreement with the measured values reported in the literature (12.1±1.0 pC/m), demonstrating that the solvent self-aligning does not change the electric response of the medium, while improving its optical properties.