Direct measurement of electric-field-induced birefringence in a polymer-stabilized blue-phase liquid crystal composite

We demonstrate a method to directly measure the electric-fieldinduced birefringence of a polymer-stabilized blue-phase liquid crystal (PS-BPLC) composite. The induced birefringence follows the extended Kerr effect well and is approximately 3X the ordinary refractive index change. The measured data are validated by comparing the simulated and measured voltage-dependent transmittance with an in-plane switching cell. The impact of these results to the material optimization of emerging BPLC displays is discussed. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America