STTR PHASE I: Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal (FLC) Gels for Facile Processing and High Yield Manufacture of Hardened FLC Displays

这一小型企业技术转移第一阶段研究项目将使铁电液晶(FLC)电光器件得到广泛应用，这在目前是不可能的，因为其高昂的制造成本使尺寸超过几厘米的显示器望而却步。需要新的FLC材料来构建排列良好的FLC单元，从而构建更大、更便宜的器件。这项研究将开发聚合物掺杂剂，通过设计和合成在液晶(LC)的各向同性相中溶解并在液晶冷却时自组装成网络的嵌段共聚物来加速加工并提高排列良好的FLC电池的产量。它将表征这些FLC凝胶的物理性质，以表明它们保持快速的电光(EO)响应，并测试新的FLC凝胶以提高耐用性和可制造性。每年大约有20亿台小型平板显示器用于手机、PDA、iPod等。开发的添加剂将使Flc能够加工成这种尺寸范围的显示器，从而实现分辨率和速度的阶梯变化。从科学上讲，LC凝胶和弹性体已被证明是一类令人着迷的材料，理论才刚刚开始为实验者开始探索FLC凝胶时可能发现的现象提供诱人的预测。该项目将处于FLC凝胶实验研究的前沿，首次对手性近晶液晶中的取向耦合和橡胶弹性的后果一瞥。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I research project will enable the widespread use of Ferro-electric Liquid Crystal (FLC) electro-optic devices which is currently impossible because their high fabrication costs become prohibitive for displays over a few centimeters in size. New FLC materials are needed to construct well-aligned FLC cells and consequently larger and less expensive devices. This research will develop polymer dopants that expedite processing and increase yield of well-aligned FLC cells by designing and synthesizing block copolymers that dissolve in the isotropic phase of the Liquid Crystal (LC) and self-assemble into a network when the LC cools. It will characterize the physical properties of these FLC gels to show they retain fast electro-optic (EO) responses and test the new FLC gels for improved durability and manufacturability. Approximately 2 billion small flat panel displays are used annually in cell phones, PDAs, iPods, etc. The additives developed would allow FLCs to be processed into displays in this size range, providing a step-change in resolution and speed. Scientifically, LC gels and elastomers have proven to be a fascinating class of materials and theory is just beginning to offer tantalizing predictions of phenomena that may be found when experimentalists begin to explore FLC gels. This project will be at the cutting edge of experimental research in FLC gels, providing the first glimpse into the consequences of orientational coupling and rubber elasticity in chiral smectic LCs.