Enhancing transmittance of fringe-field switching liquid crystal device by controlling perpendicular component of dielectric constant of liquid crystal

In this paper, we briefly report the effect of the magnitude of the perpendicular component (epsilon(perpendicular to)) of the dielectric constant of liquid crystals with a positive dielectric anisotropy on the transmittance of a fringe-field switching liquid crystal device. The larger the epsilon(perpendicular to) the more the tilt angle of the liquid crystal director near the edges of electrodes is reduced, thereby increasing the twist angle above the center of electrodes. Consequently, the transmittance of the device is significantly improved by controlling epsilon(perpendicular to) of the liquid crystal. (C) 2014 The Japan Society of Applied Physics