We report a low-voltage and submillisecond-response polymerstabilized hyper-twisted-nematic (HTN) liquid crystal cell with a large dielectric anisotropy host mixture. To correct the measured voltagedependent transmittance, we have to take the voltage shielding effect of the alignment layers into consideration. Both Kerr effect and flexoelectro-optic effect contribute to the observed induced bir...

The transfer of chirality from nonchiral polymer networks to the racemic B2 phase of nonchiral banana-shaped molecules is demonstrated. This corresponds to the transfer of chirality from an achiral material to another achiral material. There are two levels of chirality transfers. (a) On a microscopic level the presence of a polymer network (chiral or nonchiral) favors a chiral state over a ther...

Polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) represent an important new class of materials for optical device applications. Their valuable advantages such as low operating voltage, high contrast ratio, requiring no extra optical elements (i.e. polarizer), quick electrooptical response, no leakage of materials, simple fabrication, low-cost production and ease of processing make them more popular ov...

Amide and imide based polymers are a catalogue of versatile materials that have a wide range of applications from scientific interests to commercial products because of their great thermal stability, excellent electric properties, highly mechanical strength, and superior chemical resistance (Sroog, 1976). In a thin film form, polyimides have been found to have many important uses in optoelectro...

Ultrasmall-angle synchrotron X-ray scattering measurements showed that a three-dimensional polymer lattice of a few 100 nm order with body-centered cubic O(8-) symmetry was formed in a polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystal. We obtained clear experimental evidence that the polymer chains condensed selectively in the disclinations within the blue phase during photo-polymerization of monome...

The polymer stabilized state of ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLC) is reviewed; and the effect of a dispersed polymer network in an FLC outlined and discussed. All fundamental material aspects are demonstrated; such as director tilt angle; spontaneous polarization; response time and viscosity; as well as the dielectric modes. It was found that the data can largely be explained by assuming an e...

the rapidly increasing interest in functional materials with reversibly switchable physico- chemical properties has led to significant work on the development of stimuli responsive membranes. thermotropic liquid crystals with their exceptional properties have potentials for drug-delivery applications. thermoresponsive liquid-crystal-embedded membranes were investigated for the purpose of develo...

Incorporation of dichroic dyes substantially improves the contrast of polymer dispersed liquid-crystal (PDLC) shutters. The efficiency of dichroic dyes in a PDLC shutter depends on the scattering efficiency of the film, the dichroic ratio of the dye, the order parameter of the dye in the liquid crystal, and the fraction of dye dissolved in the droplets. Ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy can be e...

Monte Carlo simulations of lattice spin models represent a powerful method for the investigation of confined nematic liquid crystals and allow a study of the molecular organization and thermodynamics of these systems. Here some models of confined liquid crystals, such as polymer dispersed liquid crystals, twisted nematic, in-plane switching liquid crystal displays and hybrid aligned films are d...

A quartz crystal microbalance has been used to monitor the polymer production of a bacterial population in liquid medium. The increasing amount of produced polymer corresponds to an increase in the viscosity of the liquid, which is directly measurable as the fluid contacts the surface of the quartz crystal in the sensor system. This procedure is being developed as a novel method for measuring m...