A. Mochizuki et al., THRESHOLD PROPERTIES OF SSFLC IN TERMS OF POLARIZATION STRUCTURES, Molecular crystals and liquid crystals science and technology. Section A, Molecular crystals and liquid crystals, 303, 1997, pp. 391-401
Bistability of the surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal (SS
FLC) is one of the most important factors of display performances. The
electrooptical switching is based on the bistability which provides t
hreshold characteristics to the SSFLC display device. The threshold pr
operties of the SSFLC device which has a layer structure of liquid cry
stal molecules and provides an in-plane molecular switching are assume
d to be governed by not only a sur face anchoring but also a bulk stru
cture itself. We show some experimental results which suggest a contri
bution of ferroelectric liquid crystal's bulk structure to the electro
optical threshold properties. Layer structures: the bookshelf and the
chevron geometries are one of the main bulk factors. Our experimental
results clarified that the polarization switching behavior was intrins
ically different between the bookshelf and the chevron structures. The
bookshelf geometry also shows a possibility of gray shades.