Abstract

The development of electroclinic liquid crystals for fast gray-scale-capable devices, such as spatial light modulators, displays, and signal processors, requires that the birefringence and its wavelength dependence be well characterized. In this paper, the birefringence and its dispersion in the visible and near-IR regions have been measured for an electroclinic liquid crystal, designated as KN125. At room temperature, KN125 supercools in the chiral smectic A phase and exhibits electroclinic behavior with a fast electrooptic response.

© 1995 Optical Society of America