Ferroelectric liquid crystals: The development of devices

Abstract The discovery of ferroelectric liquid crystals (1974) together with the subsequent discovery of the surface-stabilized liquid crystals (1980) have enriched the family of ferroelectrics with a new, different and powerful member. At the same time it has considerably raised the performance level of liquid crystals as general electro-optic media and opened up new opportunities in domains where fast processing is necessary, for instance in optical computing. The last few years have seen an important development in the technology of surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal (SSFLC) devices, which today offers solutions for full dynamic grey scale, full color, high speed, high resolution and high information processing and storage. An example of a very demanding industrial application now attracting the SSFLC approach and where the full range of the SSFLC potential will be required, is the large and flat screen high definition television (HDTV). In this paper we review some key events in the resea...