Surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal devices

A liquid crystal device comprising:

• a quantity of ferroelectric liquid crystal having a plurality of adjacently disposed layers each comprised of a plurality of molecules, each molecule having a long axis, said molecules of said layers in a bulk of said liquid crystal forming helices having axes perpendicular to said layers;
• and
• first and second means, each transverse to and contiguous with said layers, for containing said liquid crystal, at least said first means aligning the long axes of said molecules adjacent thereto at an angle .OMEGA.(.alpha.) from the normal to said first means, said angle .OMEGA.(.alpha.) being a predetermined function of an angle .alpha., said angle .alpha. being an angle between a reference vector in a plane parallel to said first means and a projection of said long axes of said molecules onto said plane, the distance between said first and second means being less than the distance at which said helices form in the absence of an electric field, said first and second means causing said long axes to assume one of a plurality of stable orientations.