Polymer-stabilized optically isotropic liquid crystals, including blue phases, are emerging as a strong contender for next-generation display technology because they exhibit some revolutionary features such as no need for surface alignment, submillisecond response time, isotropic dark state, and cell gap insensitivity. The basic material properties, including electric field-induced birefringenc...

Liquid crystal elastomers are cross-linked polymer networks covalently bonded with liquid crystal mesogens. In the nematic phase, due to strong coupling between mechanical strain and orientational order, these materials display strain-induced instabilities associated with formation and evolution of orientational domains. Using a three-dimensional finite element elastodynamics simulation, we inv...

In this work we present experimental evidence of an anamorphic and spatial frequency dependent phase modulation in commercially available twisted nematic liquid crystal spatial light modulators. We have found that the phase modulation depth depends on the magnitude of the local spatial frequency component along the horizontal direction. Along the vertical direction the phase modulation depth do...

We report a strong discontinuous orientational transition (anchoring transition) of liquid-crystal molecules with a large transverse dipole moment. A perfluoropolymer was used as an alignment layer and the transition was observed from planar to homeotropic with decreasing temperature in the nematic phase. Conversely a gradual variation in tilt angle from homeotropic to conical was observed in a...

The blue phase liquid crystal (BPLC) is a highly ordered liquid crystal (LC) phase found very close to the LC-isotropic transition. The BPLC has demonstrated potential in next-generation display and photonic technology due to its exceptional properties such as sub-millisecond response time and wide viewing angle. However, BPLC is stable in a very small temperature range (0.5-1 °C) and its drivi...

In this paper, the phase effects of secondary reflections in reflective liquid-crystal cells are explored. The existence of such secondary reflections are analytically predicted and experimentally verified. The wavelength dependence of the phenomena is used to explore the magnitude of the effect. Changes of the net retardation due to these secondary reflections are measured to be +/- 3%. Numeri...

Yan Li (SID Student Member) Thomas X. Wu (SID Member) Shin-Tson Wu (SID Fellow) Abstract — A high-performance reflective polarization converter which could be used in a backlight recycling system for liquid-crystal-display (LCD) devices is proposed. The device consists of a twistednematic (TN) liquid-crystal film, a uniaxial A-plate, and a reflector. The configuration parameters, such as thickn...

Polymer-stabilized optically isotropic liquid crystals, including blue phases, are emerging as a strong contender for next-generation display technology because they exhibit some revolutionary features such as no need for surface alignment, submillisecond response time, isotropic dark state, and cell gap insensitivity. The basic material properties, including electric field-induced birefringenc...

Takeyuki Ajito Takashi Obi Masahiro Yamaguchi Nagaaki Ohyama Tokyo Institute of Technology Imaging Science and Engineering Laboratory 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku Yokohama, 226-8503 Japan E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. To reproduce the natural color of an object through color imaging systems, the range of the reproducible color, i.e., the color gamut, of the color display devices must be...

LLE Review, Volume 106 112 Introduction The development of an ideal series of dyes for liquid crystal (LC) device applications represents a formidable synthesis challenge for chemists. To be considered useful for applications in LC devices, the class of dyes under consideration must have (1) a high solubility in the host matrix; (2) good long-term chemical, thermal, and optical stability; (3) l...