A New Bistable SmA Display Mode*

In the traditional SmA display, crossed polarizers are absent and one can switch a light transparent state to an opaque light scattering state by using laser addressing or electric addressing. Such displays are bright, but of only moderate contrast ratio. Here, we present a new operation mode for a SmA display using two sets of electrodes, with one to induce homeotropic orientation and the other having an in-plane structure to induce planar orientation. This switching with crossed polarizer and analyzer enables a high contrast, bistable electro-optical effect. This SmA display mode exhibits a high contrast ratio (2500:1) for non-striped ITO pattern cells, prefect bistability, and reasonably fast switching (a few ms). These characteristics may enable potential applications on e-paper.