Enhancement of electro-optic properties in liquid crystal devices via titanium nanoparticle doping

We investigated the properties of nematic liquid crystal device (NLC) doped with titanium (Ti) nanoparticle (similar to 100nm). The electro-optic (EO) properties of LCs changed according to Ti nanoparticle doping concentration. Ti nanoparticles in the NLC cells focused the electric field flux and strengthened the electric field. Further, Ti nanoparticles in NLC molecules may trap charged ionic impurities and suppress the screen effect, leading to a stronger electric field and the van der Waals dispersion interactions between NLC molecules and the alignment layers. We also simulated the boundary conditions of the Ti nanoparticles in the electric field using Ansoft Maxwell software. Our experimental results agreed with the phenomenon predicted by software simulation based on general physical theory. Synthetically, at a 1.0 wt. % Ti nanoparticle doping concentration, the NLC cells showed the best EO properties, such as a low threshold voltage (1.25V), fast response time (13.2ms), and low pretilt angle (3.90 degrees). (C) 2012 Optical Society of America