Electrooptical Properties of Diacrylate Based Polymer Network Stabilized Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals

Abstract

Polymer network stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystals were produced by mixing a ferroelectric liquid crystal with a small amount of photo-cross-linkable diacrylate monomer and in situ polymerization of the monomer in homogeneously aligned ferroelectric liquid crystal environment. The addition of the diacrylate monomer into the ferroelectric liquid crystal causes dramatic reduction in spontaneous polarization and decrease in response speed. The formation of diacrylate polymer network in the ferroelectric liquid crystal can improve the response speed. The V-shape switching can be achieved by properly increasing the amount of polymer network.