title: Polarizer-free, electrically switchable and optically rewritable displays based on dye-doped polymer-dispersed liquid crystals.
abstract: This work demonstrates the feasibility of a polarizer-free, electrically switchable and optically rewritable display based on dye-doped polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (DD-PDLCs). Experimental results indicate that the doped dyes are homeotropically adsorbed onto the polymer film when an appropriate AC voltage is applied during patterning. The adsorbed dyes in the illuminated region then align the liquid crystals homeotropically, and produce a transparent pattern in the scattering background without any polarizer. Notably, the adsorbed dyes can be erased and readsorbed using thermal and optical treatments, respectively. The switching time of the fabricated display is of the order of milliseconds, and the contrast ratio is approximately 30.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Andy Ying-Guey
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Fuh
authors.forename: Che-Chang
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Cheng-Kai
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ko-Ting
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D003626:Data Display; D004581:Electronics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry*; D055096:Optical Devices; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D012031:Refractometry / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D011108:Polymers