High-frame-rate liquid crystal phase modulator for augmented reality displays

ABSTRACT We optimise a new liquid crystal mixture with wide nematic range, high birefringence (Δn), high resistivity, moderate dielectric anisotropy (∆ε) and relatively low rotational viscosity for augmented reality display applications. High Δn and large Δε allow a thin cell gap (d ≈ 1.5 μm) to be employed in a reflective liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCoS) device to achieve 2π phase change at 5 V and 2.87 ms average phase-to-phase response time at 40°C without complicated overdrive circuitry. Such a fast response time enables an LCoS panel to achieve 240 Hz frame rate for field sequential colour operation to avoid image flickering. Graphical Abstract

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