A chiral nematic (N*) liquid crystal (LC) was hybridized with a z-cut iron doped lithium niobate (Fe:LN) substrate and exposed with a focused continuous wave diode laser beam. The N* LC layer was confined with a cover glass to provide a homogeneous LC layer thickness. Two distinct kinds of test cells were investigated, one with an uncoated glass covering slip and one with an indium tin oxide (ITO) coated cover glass. Photo generated electric fields (generated in the Fe:LN) resulted in a localized defect formation and textural transitions in the N* LC. Due to field confinement, the field induced responses were more localized in samples with ITO coated cover glasses. By scanning the laser beam on programmed trajectories, formation of persistent patterns could be achieved in the N* LC layer. Polarized optical microscopy of the exposed samples revealed that these patterns consisted of adjacent circular Frank-Pryce defects. Exposure with a slightly defocused laser beam could be applied selectively to erase these patterns. Thus, a promising method is reported to generate reconfigurable patterns, photonic motives, and touch sensitive devices in a hybridized N* LC with micron accuracy.

The electro-optic response properties of a copolymer network liquid crystal in test cells with cell gaps of 2.5 µm and 5 µm were compared. In both test cells, responses with sums (t on + t off ) < 3.5 ms were found. The responses were 1 ms faster in the thinner test cells. Moreover, the experiments with the thinner test cells showed that the response time t off increased with increasing voltage. The scattering properties of samples with lower polymer content were investigated and it was found that samples with 4% overall copolymer content could scatter more than 40% of the incident light already in a 8 µm thick LC layer at driving voltages of 8-12 V, whereas the no voltage state had a high see-through transparency.

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