Fast response polymer stabilized blue phase by overdrive technique

Abstract

A method that exploits an overdrive technique is demonstrated to realize fast rise times in devices using the polymer-stabilized blue phase (PSBP). The results indicated that the rise time of such devices can be improved dramatically by increasing the overdrive voltage because the double cylinder structure of PSBP in the device undergoes a strong torque from this voltage. However, a stable transmittance was not obtained when the overdrive voltage was applied for durations exceeding the time required to reach maximum transmittance. By optimizing the overdrive waveform, the rise time of the PSBP device was 80 μs, which was nine times faster than that with a pulse waveform. This result is expected to find use in liquid crystal display applications and phase shifter applications in which high responses are wanted.