Asymmetric electro-optic response in antiferroelectric liquid crystals

A new manufacturing procedure producing asymmetric hysteresis curves in surface-stabilized antiferroelectric liquid crystal cells has been developed. It is based on the use of dissimilar surface conditionings on either side of the cell. The central relaxed AFLC state is not located at zero volts. The AF-->F transitions on either side, consequently, are not produced at the same switching voltage. This behavior opens the possibility of driving the cell with several new modes, allowing some interesting effects such as video-rate multiplexed analogue grayscale with simple bipolar pulses, and longterm multistability.