STTR Phase I: High Twisting Power Chiral Materials for Nanostructured Bragg Reflective Displays

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This Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project aims to make adjustments in the molecular structure of the chiral solute to make it suitable for application in Bragg reflective chiral nematic high resolution displays. This requires a molecular design which will maintain the same nanostructure dimensions over the temperature range of the nematic phase. Helical nanostructures are created when a chiral solvent is added to a nematic liquid crystal. This proposal takes advantage of the recent discovery of a new class of soluble chiral molecules which possess ultra-high helical twisting powers (HTPs). Only 3 wt. percent of the material in a nematic host is required to create a dielectric layered stack to Bragg reflect visible light. The technical breakthrough of this work is to develop greatly improved reflective display materials. The high HTP materials will provide: significantly lower voltage, faster switching characteristics, improved electro-optic response, brighter and higher contrast displays, and will avoid foreign owned patents which prohibit US manufactures from incorporating multiple chiral materials currently necessary for making chiral nematic reflective displays.