Transparent Depolarizing Organic and Inorganic Films for Optics and Sensors

Fabrication of novel organic and inorganic depolarizing films derived from quasinematic cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) organization is demonstrated. These films convert linearly polarized and circularly polarized light into unpolarized light over the entire visible region. Patterning of the quasinematic CNCs on top of a chiral nematic film gives latent images that are revealed only upon observation through the circularly polarizing filters.