Abstract
We examine here the electro-optic properties of an unusual guest-host liquid crystal mixture of a high contrast anthraquinone dye and a new ferroelectric organosiloxane liquid crystal. From measurements of the transition temperatures, tilt angles, spontaneous polarisations and rotational viscosities, we show that dye concentrations as high as 4% w/w have negligible effect upon the host properties. Furthermore, we show that the mixture, with a constant tilt angle of 36° across its smectic-C* phase range from 50°C down to 10°C, high absorbance and good alignment, produces contrast ratios in the V-V scattering mode of 50:1 or higher, with optical response times of 120 μs or less at 20°C. We argue that the technological implications of mixtures of this type are important, due to their being composed of only two components and having properties surpassing that of commercial optimised mixtures.