Polymer enhanced cholesteric electro-optical devices

A method of making a liquid crystal device which provides high contrast in-plane switching by using the flexoelectro-optical effect of the liquid crystal, the method including the steps of

• forming a mixture of a dual frequency switchable sematic in a short-pitch cholesteric liquid crystal having a positive dielectric anisotropy from about 0 to 10, one or more photoisomerizable monomers, and a photoinitiator;
• introducing the mixture into a gap formed between two substrates;
• heating the mixture beyond the isotropic point of the liquid crystal to form a uniform laying helical texture of the mixture in the gap;
• allowing the mixture to cool to about room temperature;
• subjecting at least one side of the substrate to a ultraviolet light with a wavelength of from about 320 to about 380 nm and a having a sufficiently strong intensity to form an internal spatially ordered surface stabilized polymer network localized on a surface by in situ photopolymerization.