Design and Synthesis of Tight Pitch FLCs for Analog Voltage-Limited Electro-Optic Modulators

Abstract

The goal of this project was to make liquid crystal materials suitable for use a deformable-helix ferroelectric liquid crystal (DHFLC) device for analog light transmission. Towards this goal, 141 new compounds were synthesized with potential in DHF mixtures, including compounds with novel chiral tails and cores. one class achiral dopants was found to amplify the C* pitch induction abilities of chiral dopants. A subset of this family also helped decrease the crystallization point of mixtures. other compounds, showed tight C* pitch and high polarization. Still other compounds had C* pitch and N* pitch of opposite signs, making them useful for N* pitch compensation. Several compounds, which increase the birefringence of mixture while increasing solubility, are also reported. The newly synthesized compounds we extensively evaluated for relevant properties. Formulation efforts with these new materials resulted in new DHFLC mixtures with tight C* pitch (0.13 microns), long N* pitch, and very wide (<-30 deg C to 73 deg C) C* phases. These could potentially be used in fast-switching analog display devices. The mixtures were evaluated in FLC cells. Further research is required to optimize the LC cells and driving electronics to take full advantage of the newly formulated DHF mixtures. Ferroelectric liquid crystals, Deformable helix ferroelectric liquid crystals, Display devices.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 27, 1994
Accession Number
ADA281472

Entities

People

  • William N. Thurmes

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Alkenes
  • Beam Steering
  • Cells
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Crystallization
  • Crystals
  • Electro-Optic Modulators
  • Light Transmission
  • Liquid Crystals
  • Materials
  • Modulators
  • Optical Modulators
  • Optics
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Phase Diagrams
  • Phase Transformations

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Materials Science and Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics