Once a CLC polymer film is made, it is fractured into small platelets that retain all the optical properties of the original CLC phase, including "color flop" and polarization. These platelets are the Chelix pigments, and can be used to make color flop and polarizing inks that have clear and dramatic printing effects.

Color Flop Inks

The figure below demonstrates the effect of a color flop ink. As the viewing angle increases, the reflected color "flops" - it changes from red to green, for example.

Polarizing Inks

Polarizing inks are well suited for security applications using covert detection. The photographs below show a picture printed with the left-handed CLC pigments in red, green, and blue analyzed by left-handed circular polarizer and right-handed polarizer, respectively. The extinction is clear and obvious.

    

The circular polarization extinction effect can also be used in high-speed machine-read detection mechanisms. A right- and left-handed circular polarized detector set at the same wavelength can detect the drastically different signals from the same location indicating an authentic product. Because CLCs can be made that are reflective for ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light, this effect can be utilized in non-visible systems.