Surface-Stabilized Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Electro-Optics: New Multistate Structures and Devices

摘要

We describe a variety of new electro-optic effects and devices which can be made using the surface-stabillized-ferroelectric-liquid-crystal (SSFLC) geometry. These devices are made possible by application of surface interactions and bulk liquid crystal conditions, recently discovered in SSFLCs, including nonplanar boundary conditions, POLAR boundary conditions, boundaries with multiple physical states, intrinsic spontaneous polarization splay, and layers tilted relative to the bounding plates. Using these alone or in combination produces an extensive collection of possible SSFLC structures with monostable, bistable, or multistable states. Such DEVICE STRUCTURES are categorized by a scheme based on structural symmetry and the specific conditions used. Particular device applications of structures employing two, and four state devices to nonemissive displays, color displays, and light valves are discussed. (Reprints).