Effects of fabrication condition on the network morphology and electro-optical characteristics of polymer-dispersed bistable smectic A liquid crystal device

Abstract

In this study, a bistable smectic A (SmA) liquid crystal (LC) device based on polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) mode was demonstrated, in which SmA PDLC films were prepared from ultraviolet (UV) irradiation-induced polymerisation of the acrylate monomers in acrylate monomers/ion-doped SmA LCs mixtures. The effects of the constitute of the mixtures, functionality (crosslinker concentration), polymerisation temperature and the UV light intensity on the microstructure of the polymer network and electro-optical performance in bistable SmA PDLC films were investigated in detail. The moderate size of SmA LC microdrop and dispersibility of polymer matrix in LCs played important role in determining the performances of PDLC. Photopolymerisation temperature and UV light intensity were able to improve the morphology of polymer matrix and electro-optical performance of PDLC device. This device enables the possibility of industrial production such as smart electronic control glass, which can be fabricated by the simple UV lithography technology.

Keywords:

• bistable SmA liquid crystal
• polymer-dispersed liquid crystal
• network morphology
• electro-optical characteristics

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 50903004) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. ZZ1114).