Abstract
A short helix pitch (p 0 = 0.45 µm) ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) mixture was found to provide four electrically switched birefringence colours: blue, green, yellow and red. The contrast ratios of the birefringence colours were measured as functions of both driving voltage amplitude and frequency. The FLC mixture, which had a relatively high birefringence, Δn⩾0.2, was controlled by a voltage less than 5 V. A simple model is proposed, which was confirmed by experiments. A possible application is discussed in field‐sequential colour displays, where fast switching times are required.
Acknowledgements
This work was partly supported by HKUST grant CERG 612406 and Russian Foundation for Basic Research, grants 07‐07‐91582 and 08‐03‐90009‐Bel_a.