Low‐temperature‐applicable polymer‐stabilized blue‐phase liquid crystal and its Kerr effect

Abstract

Abstract— A type of polymer‐stabilized blue‐phase liquid crystal, which can be used in a low‐temperature environment, is proposed. The blue‐phase range after polymerization was widened to more than 73°C, and the blue‐phase texture is very stable even at a temperature as low as −35°C. The electro‐optical performances dependence on polymer concentration was investigated. The results indicate that the saturation voltage increases and the hysteresis enhances as the polymer concentration increases. The rise and decay times could reach as low as 391 and 789 μsec, respectively. Such material also shows good electro‐optical behavior at a temperature of −35°C. In addition, the Kerr constant was tested under a uniformly distributed electric field to be 2.195 nm/V 2 at room temperature and 2.077 nm/V 2 at −35°C. The Kerr constant tested under white‐light illumination was 1.975 nm/V 2 , which shows a small dispersion.