Abstract— Three types of light‐scattering effects distinguished by physical mechanisms were studied in detail in monomeric ferroelectric liquid‐crystal (FLC) compositions at different boundary conditions and electrical pulse regimes. The total time of the scattering switching on and switching off is less than 150, 250, and 500 μsec at ±50 V for different scattering types in helix and non‐helix FLCs. They are quite fast, and FLC cells are quite transparent and were used in a stack of 30–100 light‐scattering shutters for a volumetric screen of a 3‐D display.

Abstract— The light‐scattering structures in monomeric FLCs have been considered and a mechanism for the scattering on transient domains in the helix layers has been proposed. An optical response with a bistable characteristic of light scattering and transmission was realized at a defined electrical pulse regime and boundary conditions in electro‐optical FLC cells. The total time of the scattering switching on and switching off is less than 400 μsec at ±36 V. They are quite fast, and FLC cells are quite transparent to be used in a stack of 30–100 light‐scattering shutters for a volumetric screen of a 3‐D display.