Independent control of haze and total transmittance with a dye-doped liquid crystal phase-grating device.

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a dye-doped liquid crystal (LC) phase-grating cell that is switchable between transparent, dark, and opaque states. The device can control haze and transmittance independently. Initially, LC and dye molecules are twist-aligned to make the cell opaque but haze-free due to the absorption of incident light without scattering. Switching to the transparent state could be achieved by applying a vertical electric field, whereas switching to the opaque state could be achieved by applying an in-plane electric field. It exhibited several advantages, such as a low switching voltage (<18 V) and fast response time (<30 ms).