The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 17, 1990
Filed:
Mar. 06, 1987
Robert B Meyer, Wellesley, MA (US);
Jayantilal S Patel, Scotch Plains, NJ (US);
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Abstract
A liquid crystal device includes a liquid crystal material (30) in which the molecules (15) form a helix having its axis essentially parallel to the plates (13, 20) of the device. A suitable electric field (E), applied essentially perpendicular to the plates, causes planes of the directors (n) to rotate about the field direction to an acute angle .phi. with respect to the helix axis, thereby inducing alternating bands of splay and bend in the material. Such configurations, which have polar symmetry, give rise to the flexoelectric effect in which the polarization (P) of the molecules tends to be parallel to the applied field, and the magnitude of the field is linearly related to tan .phi.. The ability to rotate the directors means that the optical properties of the material can be changed.