Organic molecules can transform photons into Angstrom‐scale motions by undergoing
photochemical reactions. Ordered media, for example, liquid crystals or molecular crystals …

Nematic elastic bodies can develop a gradient of response to heat, light and other stimuli.
They then bend and develop curvature in a complex manner depending on director field …

Recent studies have shown the coupling of optical and mechanical energy in a class of
liquid crystal elastomers that contain light-sensitive molecules. As shown experimentally in …

In this paper, we propose a large deflection model for the light-induced bending of liquid
crystal elastomers, in which we consider the in-plane membrane force and the geometrical …

We develop a thermodynamics and mechanics theory for polymers that when irradiated with
light, undergo photochemical reactions that alter their macromolecular structure, eg, by bond …

We model how polarized and unpolarized light can cause mechanical response in
polydomain nematic and related photoelastomers. The reduction of order by heating and the …

Photochromic liquid crystal elastomer was recently reported to be able to deform largely and
bend under illumination. In this paper, considering the opto-chemical process and the …

Nematic elastomers containing azobenzene chromophores are activated upon
photoabsorption. We study the surface deformation of such elastomers under striped …

This paper studies photoinduced surface deformation of nematic elastomers containing
azobenzene molecules. In the framework of a phenomenological model, a unified approach …

The temperature increase due to self-heating and its effect on the photo-mechanical
behavior were studied theoretically for photochromic nematic elastomers under light …