INTRINSIC MULTIPLEXABILITY OF SURFACE BISTABLE NEMATIC DISPLAYS

We present a simple multiplexing procedure for the flexoelectrically controlled surface bistable nematic display. When the surface anchoring is broken, the surface bifurcation between the two stable surface orientations has a very large sensitivity to external fields. This intrinsic property allows an easy multiplexing of the display. We excite each pixel with a sequence of two signals: a large driving square pulse of arbitrary polarity (or at high frequency), which breaks the surface anchoring, and a weak control square pulse, whose polarity determines the final texture of the pixel and hence its optical state. In a matrix geometry, the rows are sequentially addressed with the driving pulse. The columns are excited in parallel with the control pulse to write or erase the corresponding pixel.