Switching characteristics in antiferroelectric liquid crystals under application of bipolar pulse voltage

The electrooptical responses of antiferroelectric liquid crystals (AFLCs) under bipolar pulse voltages for the ariving scheme actually used in practice have been investigated. The samples used were 4-(1-trifluoromethylheptyloxycarbonyl)phenyl-4'-octyloxybiphenyl-4-carboxylate (TFMHPOBC) and its homologues. It was found that the V (applied voltage)- T (transmittance) characteristics were affected by the chemical structures such as the type of chiral radical and the length of the alkyl chain. The V-T curves at low temperatures showed an anomalous behavior, i.e., in addition to the usual increase of the transmittance in the low voltage region the transmittance has a maximum and a minimum in the high voltage region.