Liquid crystalline-plastic material having submillisecond switch times and extended memory

摘要

The invention provides a new liquid crystal-plastic display material having submillisecond switching times and an electrooptic bistable memory. The material comprises microdroplets of liquid crystal dispersed in a plastic matrix, the liquid crystal being present in an amount of at least 50% by weight. The material is prepared by the phase separation of a homogeneous solution of liquid crystal and synthetic polymer. Phase separation results in a liquid crystalline rich phase in the form of microdroplets and a plastic rich phase containing dissolved liquid crystal in solid solution with the plastic. The dissolved liquid crystal alters refractive index and the dielectric properties of the polymer, and lowers the temperature at which the plastic softens, making possible the fabrication of liquid crystal display materials having submillisecond switching rates and transparencies on the order of 90% and further having sufficiently high resistivity and permittivity so as to act as capacitors to maintain images for extended bistable memory.