We have designed, synthesized, and evaluated the physical properties of some high birefringence (Án) isothiocyanato biphenyl-bistolane liquid crystals. These compounds exhibit Án $ 0:7{0:8 at room temperature and wavelength ¼ 633 nm. Laterally substituted short alkyl chains and fluorine atom eliminate smectic phase and lower the melting temperature. The moderate melting temperature and very high clearing temperature make those compounds attractive for eutectic mixture formulation. A eutectic mixture based on those compounds was formulated and its physical properties evaluated. The simulated absorption spectra agree reasonably well with the measured results.
A homeotropic liquid crystal ͑LC͒ gel with submicron domain size is fabricated and its phase-only modulation property evaluated. The LC gel is highly transparent in the voltage-off state and exhibits pure phase modulation before light scattering occurs. Compared to a nanosized polymer-dispersed liquid crystal ͑nano-PDLC͒, our gel possesses a larger phase change but at a lower operating voltage because of a higher LC concentration. Similar to a nano-PDLC, our gel also exhibit submillisecond response time, hysteresis-free, and polarization-independent phase change.
We have developed some high birefringence (Dn $ 0.3 at k ¼ 633 nm) and relatively low viscosity nematic mixtures using isothiocyanato tolanes. These mixtures exhibit a high figure-of-merit (FoM) which is desirable for reducing the device response time. Using such a high FoM liquid crystal mixture in a 2-lm homogeneous cell, we demonstrate a 1p phase modulator at k ¼ 633 nm with submillisecond response time.
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