A polarizer-free three step switch using distinct dye-doped liquid crystal ͑LC͒ gels is demonstrated in reflective mode. By controlling the spatial distribution of the density of polymer networks, the distinct dye-doped LC gels can produce multiple states: bright, dark, and information states without patterning indium-tin oxide. The multiple states are generated by adapting different polymer network density in different display regions. The dark state is due to the combination of scattering and absorption. It can be further extended for a four step switch. The potential applications are decorative displays, electrically tunable iris, and electrically tunable low pass or high pass filter.
A polarizer‐free flexible display using a dye‐doped nematic liquid crystal (LC) gel is demonstrated in reflective mode and transmissive mode. By mimicking the display principle of a paper, combing both scattering and absorption, such a bendable and trim‐able LCD exhibits∼55% reflectance, ∼450:1 contrast ratio in reflective mode, ∼20:1 contrast ratio in transmisive mode, and 15 ms response time. A single pixel flexible reflective display using such dye‐doped LC gels is also demonstrated under bending and cutting. The minimal bending radius of curvature is ∼21mm.
Abstract— A reflective‐type polarizer‐free flexible display using a dye‐doped liquid‐crystal (LC) gels is demonstrated. Compared to the conventional guest‐host LC mode, it has high contrast ratio and brightness due to the combining of both scattering and absorption. Such a gel‐like flexible display is bendable and trimable. In this paper, a three‐step switch using distinct dye‐doped LC gels is also demonstrated. The potential applications are e‐paper and decorative displays.
A multi-switch display using gradient dye-doped LC gels which is still polarizer-free, fast response ($10ms in general), and high contrast ($200:1 in general) has demonstrated. By controlling the spatial distribution of the density of polymer networks through fabrication process, gradient dye-doped LC gels can be a multi-switch. The gradient dye-doped LC gel is bright without applied voltage and is dark at a high voltage. It appears the colored pattern when LCs are partially reoriented due to the gradient density of polymer networks. The optical analysis of dye-doped LC gels is also discussed. The potential applications are flexible display and decorative displays.
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