Glass dispersed liquid crystals for electro-optical devices

Abstract The sol-gel process has been used to trap nematic liquid crystal droplets, thus producing thin-film and bulk gel-glass dispersed liquid crystals (GDLC). Marked changes of macroscopic optical properties were achieved by controlling pore size and chemical surface composition of GDLCs, thus facilitating the design of practical devices. Switching between opaque and transparent states and variable birefringence has been demonstrated. Voltages required for droplet reorientation, and electro-optical response times, are related to pore-surface chemical composition, droplet size and shape, liquid crystal concentration, and anchoring strength of the silica-cage inner surface.