Inkjet‐Printed High‐Throughput Screening of Ultrafast Polymer‐Stabilized Blue‐Phase Liquid Crystals for Electrically Adaptive Microlens

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Authors: Jiajun Li, Yufan Feng, Zheng Cao, Sensheng Chen, Xiaolong Sheng, Yi Hao, Yanzhao Yang, Wanli He, Wei Feng, Ling Wang
Cited by: 1
References: 83

Abstract

ABSTRACT The rapid advancement of optoelectronic devices has intensified the demand for advanced liquid crystal (LC) materials with ultrafast electro‐optic responses and robust operational stability. Polymer‐stabilized blue‐phases (PSBPs) have emerged as one of the most promising candidates, but the practical application of PSBPs is severely restricted by their limited thermal stability and high saturation voltages, and optimizing PSBPs remains inefficient due to the high‐dimensional, multicomponent formulation space. Here, a high‐throughput piezoelectric drop‐on‐demand inkjet printing platform is developed to rapidly investigate the compositional landscape of PSBPs and to identify optimized formulations. By reconfiguring a multichannel CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) printing system with customized precursor inks, hundreds of distinct blue phase compositions are automatically fabricated and mapped on a single substrate. This platform successfully identified formulations with wide temperature ranges and customized clearing points, realizing the programmable fabrication of customized multi‐colored patterns with temperature‐dependent optical properties. Guided by high‐throughput screening, representative formulations with low saturation voltages and sub‐millisecond response are identified and integrated into microlens devices, enabling electrically controlled dynamic focal‐length modulation for ultrafast and adaptive photonic applications. This work establishes inkjet printing as a scalable high‐throughput route for compositional screening and programmable fabrication of advanced LC systems for next‐generation electro‐optic devices.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Liquid Crystal Research Advancements Advanced Materials and Mechanics Electrowetting and Microfluidic Technologies

Publication details

Journal / source
Advanced Functional Materials
Publisher
Wiley
Volume
36
Issue
45
Publication date
7 April 2026
Language
EN