Optically switchable bistable guest–host displays in chiral-azobenzene- and dichroic-dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystals

Abstract

Optically switchable bistable guest–host displays in chiral-azobenzene- and dichroic-dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystals (CA-DD-CLCs) are demonstrated. The CA-DD-CLCs in a LC cell treated by homeotropic alignment are initially in stable unwound textures. Given that all LC molecules in unwound textures are oriented perpendicularly to the substrates, the light absorbed by the doped DDs reaches the minimum value, which is considered the transparent state of the proposed CA-DD-CLCs. The CA-DD-CLCs are switched to fingerprint (FP) textures by illumination with ultraviolet (UV) light and can be switched back to unwound textures by illumination with green light. The optical switching between unwound and FP textures is based on the photo-tunable chirality of the doped CA via photoisomerization effect. The light absorbed by the doped DDs in FP textures reaches the maximum value, which is considered the dark state of the CA-DD-CLCs. Moreover, the performances of light absorption from the doped DDs when the CA-DD-CLCs are in unwound and FP textures is independent of the polarization of the incident light. Pattern information can be optically addressed (erased) in CA-DD-CLC cells by illumination with UV (green) light through a suitable photomask. The CA-DD-CLCs can be stabilized in FP textures for several tens of minutes in the dark environment. As such, the power is consumed only for the illumination of specific lights during the switching of CA-DD-CLCs between unwound and FP textures. Moreover, a transparent active matrix organic light-emitting diode (LED) display that is superimposed on top of a CA-DD-CLC cell embedded with a transparent light-guide film with suitable LED light sources for optical switching between unwound and FP textures, is proposed for augmented reality applications.