Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, Vol.509, 1091-1097, 2009
Polymer-Stabilized Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals Photocured at Nematic Phase
Polymer-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystals (PSFLCs), in which a photocurable mesogenic monomer is doped into a ferroelectric liquid crystal and a UV photocure is carried out in the SmA or the SmC* phase under the application of a bipolar AC electric field, show the monostable and V-shaped electrooptical characteristics, and thus are expected to be a newly developed materials for LC devices. In this study, in order to increase the thermal reliability of PSFLCs, we fabricate a new PSFLC photocured at the nematic (N) phase, and then investigate its characteristics in terms of the electrooptical effect and the X-ray diffraction. Results show that the PSFLC photocured at the N phase does not become monostable because the chevron angle does not coincide with the tilt angle.