A full-color reflective display using polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystal

We demonstrate a full-color-capability reflective display using red, green, and blue sub-pixels of polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystal (BPLC) with different pitch lengths. Vivid colors originate from three-dimensional BPLC photonic crystalline structure. Surface alignment plays a key role to generate uniform and saturated colors in the voltage-off state. Analogous grayscale is achieved by the electric-field-induced unwinding of double-twist structure. This working principle is drastically different from the phase retardation effect of conventional liquid crystal displays. Moreover, the submillisecond response time enables crisp video displays without image blurring. Potential applications for reflective 3D display are also analyzed. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4793750]