Pressure sensitive liquid crystalline light modulating device and material

Abstract

A new liquid crystalline light modulating cell and material are characterized by liquid crystalline light modulating material of liquid crystal and polymer, the liquid crystal being a chiral nematic liquid crystal having positive dielectric anisotropy and including chiral material in an amount effective to form focal conic and twisted planar textures, the polymer being distributed in phase separated domains in the liquid crystal cell in an amount that permits the liquid crystal to change textures upon the application of a field and ruggedizes the structure. In still another embodiment, the material exhibits stability at zero field in a colored, light reflecting state, a light scattering state and multiple stable reflecting state therebetween, as well as being optically clear in the presence of a field. In yet another embodiment, the application of mechanical force to the cell changes the material from an optically clear state to a light reflecting state.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.