Effect of Non-DC Voltage Applied during N*–SmC* Phase Transition on Alignment of Half-V-Shaped Switching Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal

Abstract

In a half-V-shaped switching ferroelectric liquid crystal (half-V FLC), a liquid crystal material with N*–SmC* phase transition is used. When the material is cooled from N* phase to SmC* phase without an applied electric field, two types of domain with spontaneous polarization (Ps) in the upward or downward direction to the substrate plane are formed. In the conventional half-V FLC, a DC voltage is applied to the liquid crystal during the phase transition to form either type of domain selectively. Is the DC voltage application indispensable for selecting one domain? To clarify this point and to reduce the expected residual charge due to the application of the DC voltage, various waveforms of non-DC voltage were studied. We achieved the formation of one type of domain by applying an asymmetric rectangular waveform adjusted to cancel the effective DC component, and the generation of residual charge was avoided. The obtained half-V FLC alignment showed desirable black appearance in the crossed polarizers.