A polymer-stabilized single-layer color cholesteric liquid crystal display with anisotropic reflection

The authors report a method of fabricating single-layer color cholesteric liquid crystal displays from a polymer-stabilized cholesteric liquid crystal. The reflective wavelength can be electrically switched to reflect blue or green from a cell initially reflecting a red color. The color change is a result of the compression to the helical pitches in planar layers in response to the applied voltage. The unique feature of the polymer stabilization is in the fact that the electrically switched colors preserve good reflectivity and the colors are reversible with voltage ramping. Conspicuously, the polymer-stabilized cholesteric display exhibits anisotropic reflection and has a temperature independent of reflected color. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.