Abstract
We demonstrate a polarizer-free electro-optical switch using dye-doped liquid crystal (LC) gels. The mechanism of dye-doped LC gels mainly involves the combination of polymer scattering and dye absorption. However, the domain size of polymer networks, dye concentration, LC concentration, and fabrication process can all affect the phase separation process and thus result in dye-doped LC gels with different electro-optical performance. We have studied experimentally the factors which can affect the dye-doped LC gels. The potential applications for dye-doped LC gels are flexible displays and electrically tunable light shutters.
Highlights
Most electro-optical switches using liquid crystals (LC) require at least one polarizer [1,2,3]
The electro-optical performance of dye-doped PDLCs is limited due to the dye molecules entangled in the polymer matrix, the order parameter of the dichroic dye and the dichroic ratio of the dye
To avoid the problem of solubility between dye and polymer matrix, we have developed a polarizer-free electrooptical switch using a dye-doped dual-frequency liquid crystal (DFLC) gel and dye-doped LC gels [69]
Summary
Most electro-optical switches using liquid crystals (LC) require at least one polarizer [1,2,3]. These polarizers limit the optical efficiency and viewing angle. In order to remove the polarization dependency of LC-based electro-optical switches, absorption-based Guest-Host systems or dye-doped. To avoid the problem of solubility between dye and polymer matrix, we have developed a polarizer-free electrooptical switch using a dye-doped dual-frequency liquid crystal (DFLC) gel and dye-doped LC gels [69]. Several factors affecting the electro-optical properties of dye-doped LC gels such as curing temperature, UV curing intensity, monomer concentration, and cell gap are discussed experimentally. Some potential applications of dyedoped LC gels are flexible displays and electrically tunable light shutters
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