Submillisecond-response nematic liquid crystals for augmented reality displays

We report a new nematic liquid crystal (LC) mixture with an ultra-low rotational viscosity (gamma(1) = 53.4 mPas @ 35 degrees C), relatively high birefringence (Delta n approximate to 0.15), and moderate dielectric anisotropy (Delta epsilon = -2.80 @ 35 degrees C). When employed in a liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCoS) projector with RGB light-emitting diodes (LEDs), a sub-millisecond response time is obtained without the need for complicated overdrive circuitry. Such a fast response time enables field sequential color display, which not only triples the optical efficiency and resolution density, but also greatly suppresses the image blur and color breakup. Moreover, the required cell gap is 1.2 mu m, which is still manageable for high-yield manufacturing. We believe this mixture would find widespread applications for the emerging augmented reality displays. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America