Microscopic texture and grey scale generation in anti-ferroelectric liquidcrystals

Polarized stroboscopic microscopy shows that in anti-ferroelectric liquid c rystal devices a uniform increase in light transmission takes place during the application of a short voltage pulse of sufficient amplitude. When this pulse is followed by a lower voltage, the transmission fades in two steps: in the first a fast uniform decay is observed and is accompanied by stripe s that rapidly appear out of the background; then a slower striped domain g rowth process takes place. On the other hand, when a device is allowed to r elax from the ferroelectric state, only a domain growth process is observed . We discuss the physical mechanisms involved and the effects of writing an d holding voltages on grey levels and their implications for display applic ations.