Secondary electro-optic response induced by VOD875S dye in polymer stabilised liquid crystals

ABSTRACT

Polymer stabilised liquid crystal, which has the scattering state and transparent state, is widely used in tunable optic devices. Here, we demonstrate a polymer stabilised liquid crystal device with secondary electro-optic response phenomenon. Doped VOD875S dye into the normal polymer stabilised liquid crystal, the transmittance of the scattering and transparent states is reduced; moreover, the transparent region can be extended beyond the electrode and the transmittance is increased again when the operating voltage is larger than a critical value. The effects of dye concentration, polyimide (PI) layer and surfactant concentration on the secondary electro-optic response phenomenon of PSLC film were studied. It was found that high dye concentration, no PI layer and high surfactant concentration can effectively reduce the critical voltage of the secondary electro-optic response phenomenon. The secondary electro-optic response phenomenon can be used in some smart devices.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Polymer stabilised liquid crystal
• secondary electro-optic response phenomenon
• current heating effect
• polyimide
• surfactant

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China [Grant Number 2018YFB0703701]; and the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant Number 61475042].