Journal of Lasers, Optics & Photonics

The effect of alignment layer on the response and transmission characteristics of polymer stabilized liquid crystal (PSLC) thin film driven by a modulated electrical signal is studied. In aligned PSLC thin film, the dispersed liquid crystal droplets in the polymer matrix are aligned along the rubbing direction of the alignment layer. Aligned PSLC thin film shows faster response to the applied electric field compared to non aligned PSLC. Total response time of aligned and non-aligned PSLC film is 12.4 and 27.2 ms, respectively under driving field strength of 2.03 V/μm. Thus alignment layer greatly improved the response time and reduced the driving, threshold, and saturation voltages. The study shows how possible to improve and tune the electro-optic properties of PSLC to be applied in planar photonic devices.