Low voltage and high contrast blue phase liquid crystal with red-shifted Bragg reflection

We demonstrated a low voltage and high contrast polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystal (BPLC) by shifting the Bragg reflection to a red wavelength. To retain high contrast ratio, a left-handed BPLC is sandwiched between a right-handed circular polarizer and a left-handed circular analyzer. The driving voltage is reduced by 35% as compared to that of a transparent BPLC, while keeping submillisecond response time. The proposed approach would accelerate the emergence of BPLC for next-generation display and photonic applications. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4773985]