A novel surface-stabilized monostable ferroelectric LCD

The authors present a novel type of analog gray-scale display device based on a surface-stabilized ferroelectric LCD (liquid crystal display) using an SmC* phase with long pitch of ferroelectric liquid crystals, where the direction of liquid crystal molecules shows monostability along the rubbing direction for uniaxial orientation of the substrate. Analog gray-scale display induced by the modulation of an applied electric field with a high speed response is thus confirmed. Optimization of a surface-stabilized monostable ferroelectric liquid crystal display (SSMFLCD) is obtained by controlling the chiral concentration and applying a voltage treatment with rectangular wave of 700 Hz and 20 to 50 V during the cooling process from the N* to the SmC* phase. In this way the contrast ratio (>80) and the linearity (the analog gray-scale in the low driving field <4 V/2 mu m) of the SSMFLCD can be improved significantly.<>