Electrode Dimension Effects on Blue-Phase Liquid Crystal Displays

Electrode dimension effects on the electro-optic properties of a polymer-stabilized blue-phase liquid crystal (PS-BPLC) are investigated experimentally. By reducing the width and gap of the in-plane-switching (IPS) electrodes, the operating voltage of the PS-BPLC is decreased significantly while keeping over 80% transmittance. This unexpected high transmittance results from fringing field migration into the electrode region, which in turn activates more BPLC material and enlarges the aperture ratio. Further reducing electrode dimension to 2 m would cause some undesirable effects, such as increased response time and hysteresis due to electrostriction effect and phase transition, and ultimately damage the polymer networks.