Electro-Optical Properties of Reverse-Mode Films of Planar Aligned Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystal

We prepared polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) by using nematic liquid crystal 5CB and biphenyl methacrylate type monomer with alkoxy terminal group. Reverse mode properties were achieved by rubbing the glass substrates of the PDLC films in parallel directions so that polymer and liquid crystal molecules are plane-parallel aligned in the sample cell. The monomers with various carbon number (n ≤ 4) of alkoxy group were employed for the formation of the PDLC films. The films were cured by varying monomer concentration and UV curing time. The resulting liquid crystal/polymer composites showed significantly improved driving voltage and contrast ratio.