A liquid crystal (LC) phase grating devices have been studied actively because of their outstanding features, such as the high diffraction efficiency, large diffraction angle, no diffraction at the initial state, and the simple fabrication process. It can be used to control the haze value owing to its high diffraction efficiency. Although it can be operated with low power, power consumption needs to be further reduced because it requires power to maintain the diffraction. To reduce the power consumption in a phase grating device, bistable operation, which consumes power only while it is being switched between the states, is necessary. In this paper, we will introduce bistable LC phase grating devices which can provide a translucent state with a high haze value thanks to its strong diffraction. Moreover, it can be operated with very low power as the transparent [translucent] state is maintained even after the applied vertical [in-plane] electric field is removed. We believe that these devices can be one of the new candidates for power-saving smart window or window display applications.
We introduce a simple method for fast switching of vertically-aligned nematic liquid crystals (LCs). When an electric field is applied to a patterned vertical alignment (PVA) LC cell, virtual walls are formed in the middle of the gaps between and at the center of the patterned electrodes. These virtual walls formed in a PVA cell results in the turn-off time being dependent on the pitch of the patterned electrodes as well as the cell gap. Therefore, a short response time can be achieved by fine patterning of pixel electrodes without requiring additional fabrication steps or complicated drive schemes. A similar behavior has been observed in switching of vertically-aligned LCs with positive dielectric anisotropy by an in-plane electric field.
We introduce an electrically switchable two-dimensional liquid crystal (LC) phase grating device for window display applications. The device consists of the top and bottom substrates with crossed interdigitated electrodes and vertically aligned LCs sandwiched between the two substrates. The device, switchable between the transparent and translucent states by applying an electric field, can provide high haze by the strong diffraction effect with little dependence on the azimuth angle owing to a large spatial phase difference. This device exhibits outstanding features, such as a low operating voltage, high transmittance, and wide viewing angle in the transparent state and a high haze in the translucent state. In addition, the LC device can provide sub-millisecond switching between the transparent and translucent states with the use of an overdrive scheme and a vertical trigger pulse.
We introduce a method for achieving a short response time in homogeneously aligned liquid crystal cells by twodimensional confinement of LCs with virtual walls. When an electric field is applied to in-plane switching (IPS) and fringe-field switching (FFS) cells with interdigitated electrodes parallel to the LC alignment direction, virtual walls are built so that the switching speed can be increased several-fold. We also introduce an interdigitated pixel electrode structure with alternating tilts for a much wider viewing angle by aligning the LCs without a pretilt. In addition to a short response time and wide viewing angle, this device allows a much larger deviation of the LC alignment direction which is essential for mass production. Moreover, LCs with negative dielectric anisotropy can be used to minimize the transmittance decrease.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.