Sanghyun Han, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Electrical Engineering at POSTECH (first author; advisor: Prof. Suseok Choi), received the Best Presentation Award at the Korean Meeting on Information Display (KMID 2025) for his presentation titled “Mechano-Optical Visualization of Strain Distribution in Stretchable Serpentine Structures Using Chiral Liquid Crystal Elastomers.”

In this work, the research team developed a visualization technique for strain distribution in stretchable structures using chiral liquid crystal elastomers (CLCEs) that exhibit structural color changes in response to mechanical deformation. By exploiting wavelength tunability in CLCEs, the study enables direct visualization of strain distribution in stretchable serpentine structures.

Conventional strain visualization methods have largely relied on theoretical analysis and simulations to estimate strain distribution and provide quantitative evaluation, which makes it difficult to directly assess strain behavior in actual experimental devices. In contrast, the proposed approach utilizes the mechano-responsive structural color changes of CLCEs, allowing stretchable structures to display different colors depending on the applied strain. This enables intuitive visualization of strain distribution and improves the reliability of stretchable device design.

The results of this study are expected to contribute to a wide range of applications, including displays, sensors, electronic skin, smart textiles, encryption technologies, and fashion-related devices.

This research was supported by the Samsung Electronics Science & Technology Foundation, as well as by the Stretchable Display Development Program and Stretchable Technology Demonstration Program funded by the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT).