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K.A. Feizer¹, M.A. Lesnoy¹, M.N. Krakhalev^1,2*, V.S. Sutormin¹, V.Ya. Zyryanov¹

Author affiliations
¹Kirensky Institute of Physics, Federal Research Center KSC SB RAS, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
²Institute of Engineering Physics and Radio Electronics, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
*Corresponding author: kmn@iph.krasn.ru

Abstract
A key characteristic of liquid-crystal elements is response time. It depends in a non-trivial way on the thickness d₀ of liquid-crystal layer. The effect of d₀ on the control voltage range and switching times between adjacent light phase levels differing by π/9 is investigated. Using the widely known nematic E7 mixture as an example, detailed measurements of dynamic properties at various d₀ values ranging from 2.02 to 3.82 μm are performed. The maximum applied voltage is 3.3 V, which is typical for liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) spatial light modulators. Increasing the thickness of the liquid crystal layer from 2.02 to 3.82 μm results in a reduction of the range of driving voltages at which the phase changes to π (at λ = 632,8 nm), from 2.28 to 1.74 V. In the high-voltage range close to 3.3 V, switching times increase as d₀ rises. For low driving voltages, the relationship between response dynamics and d₀ is non-monotonic: switching times decrease as the nematic layer thickness increases up to 2.94 μm, and then switching times increase as d₀ continues to rise. The data obtained are of interest for the development of matrix liquid-crystal systems with improved dynamic characteristics, where the permissible voltage range is limited by the design features of pixel control elements.

Keywords: nematic liquid crystal, electro-optical response, phase delay, switching time