Fast-switching effect using viscous chiral-nematic materials

ABSTRACT

We report on chiral-nematic mixtures containing viscous chiral dopants, composed of rigid rod-like chiral molecules, in order to solve the problem of backflow in the middle layers of the liquid crystal cells. During the study, the viscoelastic properties of the liquid crystal compositions have been optimised, as well as the helical twisting power of the chiral compounds, the anchoring energy and the pre-tilt angle of alignment materials, the ratio between the cell gap and the helical pitch (d/P₀). After optimisation, we prepared test cells with low operating voltage – from 1.5 till 5.0 V, fast response time (τ_on + τ_off) – less than 1 ms, wide operating temperature range from −40°C till +100°C, and good thermal stability. It should be noted that the response time of the new electro-optical mode does not strongly depend on the cell gap, which is in contrast to other known operating modes. We have achieved rather linear than quadratic dependence of the response time when changing the thickness of the cell.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Chiral-nematic mixtures
• fast switching effect
• viscosity
• backflow

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.