FAST ELECTROOPTIC SWITCHING DEVICES EMPLOYING POLYMER TEMPLATE SHAPED BY BLUE PHASE LIQUID CRYSTAL

摘要

A phase retarder includes a liquid crystal cell and electrical switching circuitry. The liquid crystal cell contains electrodes and an active layer comprising liquid crystal material stabilized by a polymer network that is shaped by a blue phase using a washout/refill procedure. The electrical switching circuitry is configured to operate the phase retarder at a switching speed of less than 500 microseconds for both rise time and decay time, and in some embodiments is configured to operate the phase retarder at a switching speed of 200 microseconds or less for both rise time and decay time. The polymer network typically has pores of less than or about 200 nm. The liquid crystal material may be a nonchiral nematic liquid crystal material, a chiral nematic liquid crystal material, or a chiral smectic liquid crystal material. In some embodiments the liquid crystal cell does not include an alignment layer.