Proposal: 9321110 ABSTRACT Date: 6/1/94 PI: M.D. Wand Institution: Displaytech, Inc. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project deals with the design, synthesis and characterization of temperature insensitive ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLC) which are easily aligned, have a broad operating chiral smectic A range and show a large electroclinic effect. Such FLCs show a linear electro-optic effect which permits gray modulation without partial domain switching. Specifically, the Phase II research will synthesize 80-120 new FLCs, test their ability to induce temperature insensitivity of proprietary Displaytech smectic B dopants, and test and optimize for nematic phase induction N*-inducing Displaytech dopants. Achieving these objectives will permit the formulation of the best analog liquid crystal mixture which will be evaluated in two devices, a linear array modulator for analog beam steering applications and a single element continuous grayscale modulator. High speed analog intensity modulators, based on temperature insensitive FLCs showing a large electroclinic effect will find applications in flat panel displays, analog beam deflectors, continuously tunable birefringence filters useful in imaging spectrometers, and neural networks. These technologies are of high current interest and strategic importance.
