Enhanced dynamic response of the in-plane switching liquid crystal display mode through polymer stabilization

A significant improvement in the dynamic response time of the in-plane switching nematic liquid crystal mode, useful in flat-panel display applications, is achieved through polymer stabilization. This improvement is achieved by introducing a low-density, stabilizing polymer network that causes the nematic director to favor the zero-field orientation at the expense of transmission and slightly higher drive voltages. We present a simple model that treats the polymer network as an effective field in the general framework of elastic continuum theory. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)02847-8].