High birefringence and large negative dielectric anisotropy phenyl‐tolane liquid crystals

Two phenyl‐tolane compounds with two pairs of (2,3) lateral difluoro substitutions were synthesized and their properties evaluated. These compounds exhibit a high birefringence (Δn ～ 0.35) and a large negative dielectric anisotropy (Δε～ ?8). These two important features make the phenyl‐tolane compounds useful as a dopant in a negative Δε liquid‐crystal mixture to enhance the performance of the host mixture, or as a negative component in a dual‐frequency liquid‐crystal mixture to improve the dielectric anisotropy and birefringence and lower the crossover frequency.     

Dielectric spectroscopy analysis in employing liquid crystal phthalonitrile derivative in nematic liquid crystals

Dielectric anizotropy and relaxation properties of 2,3-dicyano-1,4-di[3,4,5-tri(dodecyloxy)phenylcarbonyloxy] benzene (DCDPB)-doped E7 and E7 liquid crystal have been investigated by the dielectric spectroscopy method. Dielectric anisotropy property of the LCs changes from the positive type to negative type. Dielectric relaxation properties suggest that LCs exhibit a monodispersive dielectric property. The relaxation frequency of E7 and E7/DCDPB liquid crystals was calculated by means of Cole-Cole plots. Consequently, DCDPB dopant changes the dielectric anizotropy and relaxation parameters of E7 LC.     

Dual frequency liquid crystals: a review

We review the recent progress in developing high performance dual frequency liquid crystal (DFLC) materials. A new figure of merit is derived for evaluating the DFLC performance. The dielectric relaxation and electro-optical properties of several high performance compounds, which possess a positive dielectric anisotropy at low frequencies and a relaxation frequency in the kilohertz region, are presented. Potential applications of these compounds are discussed. Compounds with a negative dielectric anisotropy were also compared and discussed. Two experimental DFLC mixtures were demonstrated with one intended for room temperature operation and another for elevated temperature operation.     

Electrical Properties of Polymethylmethacrylate Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals*

The effect on the electrical properties of polymethylmethacrylate polymer containing liquid crystal as dispersed molecules is investigated in the temperature range 30-100°C and the frequency ange from 100 Hz to 10 kHz. It is found that increasing the liquid crystal content enhances the ac-impedance, decreases the ac-loss conductivity and decreases the value of the dielectric constant. The decrease in the ac-impedance with increasing frequency is associated with a dramatic increase in the ac-loss conductivity at frequencies higher than 1 kHz. The decrease in the ac-conductivity with increasing the dispersed liquid crystal phase is attributed to the reduction of the mobility of the charge carriers. Thus, the dielectric property of the system improves.     

Dielectric relaxation spectroscopy of a nematic liquid crystal doped with ferroelectric Sn 2 P 2 S 6 nanoparticles

It was found that doping a nematic liquid crystal (LC) with a small amount of ferroelectric nanoparticles strongly affects the dielectric properties of the system. In particular, adding the ferroelectric particles results in a shift of the absorption bands corresponding to the rotation of liquid crystal molecules around their short axes to lower frequencies and in an increase of the amplitude and with of the absorption bands. This suggests that strong interactions occur between the LC molecules and the particles, caused by the large dipole moment and high polarizability of the ferro-particles. The ferroelectric particles affect not only dielectric losses, but also dielectric permittivity of the system. Specifically, the static dielectric permittivity and the dielectric anisotropy of the suspension are more than twice that of the pure LC.     

Dielectric relaxation spectroscopy of a nematic liquid crystal doped with ferroelectric Sn 2 P 2 S 6 nanoparticles

It was found that doping a nematic liquid crystal (LC) with a small amount of ferroelectric nanoparticles strongly affects the dielectric properties of the system. In particular, adding the ferroelectric particles results in a shift of the absorption bands corresponding to the rotation of liquid crystal molecules around their short axes to lower frequencies and in an increase of the amplitude and with of the absorption bands. This suggests that strong interactions occur between the LC molecules and the particles, caused by the large dipole moment and high polarizability of the ferro-particles. The ferroelectric particles affect not only dielectric losses, but also dielectric permittivity of the system. Specifically, the static dielectric permittivity and the dielectric anisotropy of the suspension are more than twice that of the pure LC.     

Electrical orientation behaviour of a nematic liquid crystal with negative dielectric anisotropy above the microelectrodes

Factors for the electrical orientation on interdigitated microelectrodes deposited on a substrate, a microdielectrometric sensor (or a sensor), were discussed experimentally using a model nematic liquid crystal with negative dielectric anisotropy. The electrical orientation behaviour of the nematic liquid crystal was investigated using microdielectrometry and polarised optical microscopy. The experimental results were discussed in relation to electric-field line, surface topology, anchoring of the liquid crystalline molecules to the microelectrodes, and transversal rotation of a rode-like molecule of the liquid crystal with negative dielectric anisotropy.     

First synthesis of liquid crystalline 2,3-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl derivatives exhibiting large negative dielectric anisotropy

A series of liquid crystalline 2,3-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl derivatives has been synthesized and their physical properties, namely the dielectric anisotropy, the birefringence, the rotational viscosity and the phase sequences have been measured. This novel class of compound showed an extremely large negative dielectric anisotropy (-6.1 to-11.4), exceeding that of currently used 2,3-difluorophenyl derivatives. On the other hand, the compounds synthesized were found to have poorer mesogenic potential and larger viscosities than those of the 2,3-difluorophenyl derivatives. Molecular modelling using molecular orbital calculations has been performed and the calculation results have been compared with experimentally evaluated physical properties.     

First synthesis of liquid crystalline 2,3-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl derivatives exhibiting large negative dielectric anisotropy

A series of liquid crystalline 2,3-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl derivatives has been synthesized and their physical properties, namely the dielectric anisotropy, the birefringence, the rotational viscosity and the phase sequences have been measured. This novel class of compound showed an extremely large negative dielectric anisotropy (-6.1 to-11.4), exceeding that of currently used 2,3-difluorophenyl derivatives. On the other hand, the compounds synthesized were found to have poorer mesogenic potential and larger viscosities than those of the 2,3-difluorophenyl derivatives. Molecular modelling using molecular orbital calculations has been performed and the calculation results have been compared with experimentally evaluated physical properties.     

Synthesis and the effect of 2,3-difluoro substitution on the properties of diarylacetylene terminated by an allyloxy group

A series of 2,3-difluoro tolane allyloxy-based liquid crystals (LCs), which are composed of the tolane unit, lateral fluoro substituents, alkoxy and allyloxy terminal groups, were synthesised with 4-bromo-2,3-difluorophenol as the starting material via a five-step reaction. Their structures were confirmed by infrared spectroscopy (IR), mass spectroscopy (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The mesomorphic properties were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarising optical microscopy (POM). The dielectric measurement was performed using an independent analyser EC-1 and the birefringence was determined using an Abbe refractometer. The results reveal that LCs have large negative dielectric anisotropy and high birefringence, which are potentially important for the fast response displays and liquid crystal photonic devices (LCDs).     

Reverse mode operation polymer dispersed liquid crystal with a positive dielectric anisotropy liquid crystal

The development of electrically activated chromogenic materials is important for their potential applications in smart windows. Several previous works have reported on reverse mode operation polymer dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) based on negative dielectric anisotropy liquid crystals. They have a transparent OFF state, which turns opaque after the application of a suitable external electric field. Nevertheless, these devices have some limitations such as the use of large amount of expensive liquid crystals with peculiar physical‐chemical properties. In addition, a good matching between the refractive index of liquid crystal and the polymer matrix one is required. The main result of this work is the achievement of reverse mode operation devices prepared with a positive dielectric anisotropy liquid crystal and characterized by a high OFF state transmittance obtained by the onset of high intensity built‐in DC electric fields in a direct mode operation PDLC, which allows the OFF state homeotropic alignment of liquid crystal directors. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011     

Electrically induced anchoring transition in nematics with small or zero dielectric anisotropy

The orientational transitions induced by electrically controlled ionic modification of surface anchoring in liquid crystal cells based on the nematics with small or zero dielectric anisotropy Δε are considered. The type of director reorientation is shown to be independent of the sign of dielectric anisotropy and can be the same for the nematics with both negative and positive Δε. Besides, the orientational transition and corresponding switchable optical states do not depend on the Δε value and can be effectively realised even for the nematics with zero dielectric anisotropy.     

High birefringence and large negative dielectric anisotropy phenyl-tolane liquid crystals

Two phenyl-tolane compounds with two pairs of (2,3) lateral difluoro substitutions were synthesized and their properties evaluated. These compounds exhibit a high birefringence (Δn ∼ 0.35) and a large negative dielectric anisotropy (Δε∼ -8). These two important features make the phenyl-tolane compounds useful as a dopant in a negative Δε liquid-crystal mixture to enhance the performance of the host mixture, or as a negative component in a dual-frequency liquid-crystal mixture to improve the dielectric anisotropy and birefringence and lower the crossover frequency.     

High performance n-type single crystalline transistors of naphthalene bis(dicarboximide) and their anisotropic transport in crystals

High-performance n-type organic single crystal transistors of a naphthalene diimide are demonstrated. The accomplished transistors exhibit electron mobility as high as 0.7 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). The anisotropic charge transport in the elongated hexagonal crystals of the naphthalene diimide is also explored. The transport anisotropy along different directions is at least 1.6 (mobility ratio).     

Electro-optic characteristics of the fringe in-plane switching liquid crystal device for a liquid crystal with negative dielectric anisotropy

Fringe-field switching (FFS) liquid crystal (LC) mode is mainly used for high-end LC displays. At present, an LC with positive dielectric anisotropy is utilised, although light efficiency of the device in a white state is not maximised due to generation of tilt angle near the edge of electrodes along the field direction. In order to overcome the demerit, an LC with negative dielectric anisotropy has been challenged. In this article, FFS mode, which shows a high light efficiency and a low operating voltage, is investigated with the utilisation of fringe in-plane electric field. The optimised device shows improved electro-optic characteristics in comparison with not only conventional LC modes, but also previously proposed FFS device using a positive type of LC.     

Four unit linking groups III. Liquid crystals of negative dielectric anisotropy

A series of 1-n-alkoxy-2,3-difluoro-4-[3-(trans-4-pentylcyclohexyl)propyloxy]-benzenes has been synthesized. Several homologues exhibit an enantiotropic nematic phase of moderately strong negative dielectric anisotropy (Δε ≈ 5) at or just above room temperature. An analogous series of three-ring diethers also including some (E)-3-allyloxy derivatives possesses enantiotropic, wide range nematic phases also of moderately strong negative dielectric anisotropy, but at elevated temperatures. The synthesis and liquid crystal transition temperatures of these 2,3-difluoroquinone derivatives are described and comparisons are made with the transition temperatures of the corresponding materials incorporating standard central linkages (-, C₂H₄, CH₂O and COO).     

Synthesis of cyclopentyloxy terphenyl liquid crystals with negative dielectric anisotropy

Liquid crystalline materials possessing negative dielectric anisotropy (Δε) have attracted considerable attention because they can be used to formulate eutectic mixture for several display applications. The negative Δε can be achieved by introducing a lateral polar substituent onto the mesogen core of a liquid crystalline material, and fluorine atoms are usually used because of the small size and high electronegativity. 2,3-ortho-Difluoro substituent liquid crystals exhibit stable and profound physical properties such as the low viscosity, strong negative Δε, and high solubility. To avoid the decrease of the mesophase range, 2,3-ortho-difluorophenyl is often placed next to the terminal chain. In this paper, we have synthesised a new series of 2,3-ortho-difluoroterphenyl liquid crystals with a negative dielectric anisotropy. Ether oxygen is introduced to the structure because it can further increase the lateral dipole moment. 3-Alkylcyclopentane end group decreases both the melting point and the viscosity, which makes it an appropriate substituent for negative Δε 2,3-ortho-difluoroterphenyl liquid crystals. The mesomorphic properties as well as the optical anisotropies of the synthesised liquid crystals are discussed in this paper. All compounds in the series are found to possess highly negative dielectric anisotropy, wide mesophase ranges; therefore, they have a great potential to formulate eutectic mixture for liquid crystal displays.     

A new type of electrohydrodynamic instability in nematic liquid crystals with positive dielectric anisotropy

A new type of electrohydrodynamic instability originally reported in nematic liquid crystal mixtures with positive dielectric anisotropy and as moderately thick samples is further studied. The ability of homogeneously aligned nematics with positive dielectric anisotropy, in the presence of a magnetic field, to exhibit Williams domains as a threshold effect is numerically investigated. The variation of the threshold voltage for domain formation and dielectric alignment with dielectric anisotropy is calculated theoretically and compared with the experimental results as moderately thick and thin samples.     

Analysis of cell gap-dependent driving voltage in a fringe field-driven homogeneously aligned nematic liquid crystal display

We have studied cell gap-dependent driving voltage characteristics in a homogeneously aligned nematic liquid crystal (LC) cell driven by a fringe electric field, termed the fringe field switching (FFS) mode. The results show that for the FFS mode using a LC with positive dielectric anisotropy, the operating voltage decreases as the cell gap decreases, whereas it increases with a decreasing cell gap when using a LC with negative dielectric anisotropy. The difference between LCs is explained by simulation and experiment.     

Analysis of cell gap-dependent driving voltage in a fringe field-driven homogeneously aligned nematic liquid crystal display

We have studied cell gap-dependent driving voltage characteristics in a homogeneously aligned nematic liquid crystal (LC) cell driven by a fringe electric field, termed the fringe field switching (FFS) mode. The results show that for the FFS mode using a LC with positive dielectric anisotropy, the operating voltage decreases as the cell gap decreases, whereas it increases with a decreasing cell gap when using a LC with negative dielectric anisotropy. The difference between LCs is explained by simulation and experiment.