Open AccessUltrafast switching of randomly-aligned nematic liquid crystals
Author(s) -
Dong Han Song,
Jung-Wook Kim,
Ki-Han Kim,
Soon Joon Rho,
Hyeokjin Lee,
Heeseop Kim,
TaeHoon Yoon
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.20.011659
Subject(s) - liquid crystal , rubbing , electric field , optics , materials science , ultrashort pulse , optoelectronics , switching time , physics , laser , quantum mechanics , composite material
We propose an ultrafast nematic liquid crystal (LC) device without alignment layers, where both the dark and bright states can be realized by applying an electric field. A vertical electric field is applied to vertically align the LCs for the dark state, whereas an in-plane electric field is applied to homogeneously align the LCs for the bright state. We achieved a total response time of less than 3 ms in the proposed device. This device may contribute, not only to a significant improvement of the switching speed in liquid crystal devices, but also to the simplification of the device fabrication by the omission of the alignment layer coating and the rubbing process.