Faster pitch control of cholesteric liquid crystals

We report the spectral broadening of selective reflection (SR) with higher response speed in cholesteric liquid crystals (ChLCs). A planarly aligned ChLC was applied with an in-plane electric field with an inhomogeneous intensity in the cell-depth direction by using common interdigitated electrodes and selecting the cell gap and the interval between electrodes. The electric field normal to the helix increased the helical pitch of the ChLC, while the inhomogeneous field intensity caused the spatial distribution of the helical pitch in the cell-depth direction, increasing the SR band width from 100 to 300 nm with the response time of 3 ms.

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