FERROELECTRIC LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE BLOCK-COPOLYMERS

Ferroelectric liquid crystal (LC) polymers have several advantages com pared to low molecular weight ferrolectric LCs (as well as a few disad vantages). The synthesis characterization, and physical properties of a ferroelectric LC homopolymer and a related new ferroelectric LC poly mer system-consisting of a block copolymer with microdomain morphology -are reported. The nearly total absence of hysteresis indicates that t he system is monostable, which could make such polymers suitable for d isplay applications with active matrix addressing.