Polymer dispersed ferroelectric smectic liquid crystal formed by inducing a force during phase separation

Abstract

Disclosed is a class of light modulating materials comprising microdomains of ferroelectric smectic liquid crystal dispersed in a light-transmissive polymer medium. The microdomains are formed by phase separation of the liquid crystal from solution with the polymer as the polymer is solidified. The switching of the liquid crystal may be either monostable or multistable (e.g., bistable), depending on the liquid crystal and polymer. The material modulates light in either a scattering-transmissive mode or a birefringence mode. Materials operating in the scattering-transmissive mode do not require polarizers, Advantages of the materials include switching times down to the order of microseconds or less, multistable optical states, wide viewing angles and high contrast.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.