Measurement of Polymer Stabilization Strength in Polymer-Stabilized Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals

Abstract

We have analyzed the effect of polymer stabilization on the helical structure of FLCs, such as polymer stabilization strength and molecular-alignment-structural deformation, by the conoscopic figures of polymer-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystals (PSFLCs) observed from computer simulation and experiment. In this study, we research the conoscopic figures and the polymer stabilization strength of PSFLCs fabricated using a new FLC material and several types of monomer. In the case using a photocurable monoacrylate LC-1, the elastic constant of PSFLC is as large as that of pure FLC. On the other hand, in the case of diacrylate 2A363, the elastic constant is one hundred times larger. Therefore, the polymer stabilization strength and the characteristics of PSFLC may be widely controlled by mixing several types of monomer.

Molecular Alignment of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal in Wide-Gap Cell for Liquid Crystal Lens

“…In order to suppress this transformation, the polymer stabilization technique was utilized, where FLC media doped with a photocurable mesogenic monomer UCL-001 (DIC) were photocured with a UV light source (365 nm, 2 mW/cm 2 ). 19,20) Figure 9 shows the microscopic textures of the polymer-stabilized (PS) FLCs. It is found that the alignment modification can be suppressed in 2 wt % PS-FLC.…”