Blue Phase-Polymer-Templated Ferroelectric Nematic Liquid Crystal

Abstract

Ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals (NFLCs) are promising electronic materials owing to their giant permittivity, polarization, and nonlinear optical coefficients. Although it is difficult to polymer-stabilize the NFLC orientation state due to their low affinity to polymers, in this study, we have succeeded in stabilizing the orientation into a blue phase (BP) three-dimensional structure by using BP polymer networks. This BP polymer-templated NFLC retains their ferroelectric properties and stabilizes with macroscopically canceled polarization due to the BP structure. The large polarization and dielectric constant of the NFLCs resulted in a large electro-optical Kerr effect. In addition, Curie point was observed in the BP polymer-templated NFLC, indicating the existence of multiple kinetic modes in the NFLCs themselves. This breakthrough expands the range of applications for both BPs and NFLCs.