Preparation of stripe-shaped domain structure in ferroelectric liquid crystal and the fabrication of spatial light modulator

Abstract

The stripe-shaped domain (SSD) structure was prepared in the initial ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) alignment without the application of an external electric field, which was realized by the aligning layer modification through the doping of tin tetra-2, 4-dimethyl phenoxy phthalocyanine (SnPc) into the rubbed polyimide films. Atomic force microscopy was used to investigate the alignment films and the corresponding aligning ability was evaluated through the pre-tilt angle measurement. The memory capability and the contrast ratio of thus aligned SSFLC cells have been enhanced and improved with the appearance of the SSD structure. The electrically controlled 64 × 64 FLC spatial light modulator was fabricated using the improved aligning method, which proves valuable for the practical device fabrication.