We developed a novel technology for the fabrication of reflective cholesteric liquid crystal displays coatable on a single substrate using a layer-by-layer approach. Encapsulated cholesteric liquid crystals serving as an electro-optical layer and transparent conducting polymer films serving as electrodes are coated and printed on a variety of unconventional substrates, including ultra-thin plastic, paper, and textile materials to create conformable displays. The displays are capable of offering excellent electro-optical properties of the bulk cholesteric liquid crystals, including full-color, IR capability, bistability, low power, high brightness and contrast, combined with the ruggedness and pressure insensitivity of the liquid crystal droplets embedded in a polymer matrix. Durability of encapsulated cholesteric liquid crystals and single substrate approach allows for display flexing, folding, rolling and draping during image addressing without any image distortion. Our single substrate approach with natural cell-gap control significantly simplifies the fabrication process of the LCDs especially for large area displays. This paper will discuss the development, status, and merits of this novel display technology.

Date Published: 25 May 2005
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 5801, Cockpit and Future Displays for Defense and Security, (25 May 2005); doi: 10.1117/12.611089

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5801:
Cockpit and Future Displays for Defense and Security
Darrel G. Hopper; Eric W. Forsythe; David C. Morton; Charles E. Bradford; Henry J. Girolamo, Editor(s)