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Simulation and fabrication of a fast fringe‐field switching liquid crystal with enhanced surface anchoring enabled by controlled polymer topology
Author(s) -
Weng Libo,
Varanytsia Andrii,
Chang KaiHan,
Chien LiangChy
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of the society for information display
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.578
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1938-3657
pISSN - 1071-0922
DOI - 10.1002/jsid.506
Subject(s) - liquid crystal , materials science , anchoring , polymer , transmittance , planar , monomer , ultraviolet , optics , optoelectronics , phase (matter) , chemical physics , composite material , organic chemistry , chemistry , computer graphics (images) , physics , structural engineering , computer science , engineering
We demonstrate a fringe‐field switching nematic liquid crystal with electro‐optical behavior modulated by both bulk and surface polymer stabilization. The polymer is formed by ultraviolet irradiation‐induced phase separation of various amounts of a reactive monomer in the planar‐aligned nematic liquid crystal. Simulation is carried out to verify the effect of anchoring energy. Experimental evidence validates the effect of monomer concentration on transmittance–voltage and response times curves of fringe‐field switching cells. The polymer‐stabilized alignment with a higher polymer concentration escalates the interaction between the liquid crystal and the polymer structure and increases the surface anchoring energy. The polymer stabilization also improves the dynamic response times of liquid crystal. The enabling polymer‐stabilized alignment technique has excellent electro‐optical properties such as a very good dark state, high optical contrast, and fast rise and decay times that may lead to development of a wide range of applications.