New fluorinated terphenyl isothiocyanate liquid crystals

High birefringence (Delta n > 0.4) nematic liquid crystals are particularly attractive for infrared applications because they enable a thinner cell gap to be used for achieving a fast response time. In this experiment, we evaluate the mesomorphic and physical properties of several fluorinated NCS terphenyl compounds. These compounds have Delta n similar to 0.35 in the visible spectral region and relatively low viscosity. In terms of applications, these compounds can be used as a dopant to enhance the figure-of-merit of commercial mixtures for display applications. We can also formulate high birefringence eutectic mixtures using solely NCS terphenyl compounds for near-IR laser beam steering applications.