Electrical model of a liquid crystal pixel with dynamic, voltage history-dependent capacitance value

Abstract

The voltage history-dependent nature of a liquid crystal pixel capacitance becomes an important issue in active matrix addressing as large storage capacitors are replaced with more intelligent circuitry such as in-pixel frame buffers. In this paper, a simple but flexible Spice macro model is introduced that allows accurate simulations of the electrical behaviour of a nematic liquid crystal pixel capacitance. The model correctly predicts voltage drops caused by the increasing dielectric constant when liquid crystal molecules align themselves to the electric field. An internal node of the macro model represents the average director orientation and can also be used to predict the optical response. In its basic embodiment, the model uses a first-order, low pass RMS filter to implement the dynamic behaviour of the pixel, which suffices to predict response delays and asymmetric rise and fall times. However, the model also supports more elaborated filters that offer more control over the simulated dynamic behaviour. A number of simulations are performed that illustrate the usefulness of the new model during the design of novel ‘smart’ pixel architectures.