Reflective Display Configurations Based on Total Internal Reflection and Grating-Grating Coupling of Holographic Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals (H-PDLC)

ABSTRACT

We report on a novel electro-optical reflective configuration based on total internal reflection and grating-grating coupling fabricated in Holographic Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals (H-PDLC) materials. In this device, two symmetric slanted gratings are temporally multiplexed into a single film. A narrowband light is selected and diffracted from two coupled Bragg gratings creating a reflected image. These reflective configurations have switching voltages that are at least one-half that of H-PDLC reflective displays reported in the literature, and therefore have potential as low power, reflective display devices.

Keywords:

• display
• HPDLC
• liquid crystal
• total internal reflection (TIR)

Acknowledgments

J. Q. thanks the financial support of NASA 99011171502 and G.P.C. NSF grant ECS-0322878.