Fast electrooptic switching devices employing polymer template shaped by blue phase liquid crystal

A method comprising:

• providing a phase retarder including a liquid crystal cell containing electrodes and an active layer comprising liquid crystal material stabilized by a polymer network that is shaped by a blue phase using a washout/refill procedure;
• and
• applying voltages to the electrodes of the phase retarder to switch the phase retarder over its phase retardation dynamic range obtainable by biasing the electrodes of the phase retarder with both a 10%-to-90% rise time of less than 500 microseconds and a 90%-to-10% decay time of less than 500 microseconds.

An apparatus comprising:

• a phase retarder including a liquid crystal cell containing electrodes and an active layer comprising liquid crystal material stabilized by a polymer network that is shaped by a blue phase using a washout/refill procedure;
• and
• electrical switching circuitry configured to operate the phase retarder at a switching speed of less than 500 microseconds for both rise time and decay time.