Electro-optical response of ferroelectric liquid crystal cells with photo-dimerization alignment layer

The electro-optical characteristics of ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) cells were investigated with a surface-stabilized alignment layer by a photo-dimerization method. The photo-dimerization was performed using a polarized UV light (PUVL) irradiation and monitored with an UV/Vis spectrophotometer. It was found that the photo-dimerization method required the lower energy in PUVL exposure energy consumption than a photo-degradation method did. The highest contrast ratio of FLC cells was about 70:1 and zigzag defect-free C2 structure formed by the PUVL irradiation method was discussed with pretilt angles and contrast ratios. The response times of FLC cells were below 1 ms.