Abstract
A broadband cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) device with a multi-domain structure is demonstrated by using an aggregation of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) nanoparticles in the CLC layer. The aggregation pattern of the self-assembled POSS nanoparticles depends on the concentration of POSS doped in the mixture of POSS/CLC and the cooling rate of the mixture from a temperature higher than the clear point. POSS-induced changes in the bulk and surface properties of the cholesteric cells, such as a promotion of homeotropic alignment, help to form a cholesteric structure with a broadband reflection of light; the latter can be used for improvement of bistable CLC devices. A higher POSS concentration and a higher cooling rate both improve the appearance of the black-white CLC device.
Highlights
Bistable reflective cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) displays have seen major development in the past few years in electronic paper applications due to their advantageous low power consumption and high reflectivity [1,2]
One is a planar texture where the helical axis is perpendicular to the substrate surface and where the CLC reflects colored light centered at a wavelength given by λ0 = nP, where n and P are the average reflective index and pitch of the CLC, respectively
The polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) nanoparticles dispersed in the CLCs became aggregated to form a cluster due to the hydrogen bond formed between hydroxyl compounds in the side chains
Summary
Bistable reflective cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) displays have seen major development in the past few years in electronic paper applications due to their advantageous low power consumption and high reflectivity [1,2]. One is a planar texture where the helical axis is perpendicular to the substrate surface and where the CLC reflects colored light centered at a wavelength given by λ0 = nP, where n and P are the average reflective index and pitch of the CLC, respectively Another state is the focal-conic texture in which the light scatters weakly, which can be applied as a dark state by using an absorption layer placed on the bottom substrate [3,4,5,6]. Owing to the inherently strong aggregation property of POSS and the POSS-induced vertical alignment in the CLC layer, the existence of a POSS-cluster breaks the helix of the planar structure into a multidomain structure and stabilizes the focal-conic texture
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