A liquid crystal display device includes: a substrate; a thin film transistor in a pixel region over the substrate; a common electrode over the thin film transistor; a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor; and a liquid crystal layer including a plurality of liquid crystal capsules over the common electrode and the pixel electrode, wherein each of the plurality of liquid crystal capsules includes a shell and a core having a plurality of liquid crystal molecules therein, and wherein a gap distance between the liquid crystal molecules in adjacent liquid crystal capsules is equal to or greater than 20 nm and equal to or smaller than 0.3 times of a capsule diameter of the adjacent liquid crystal capsules.

An optical system with an electronically variable iris. The optical system comprises an optical lens. A number of transparent conductive layers is coupled to an optical surface of the optical lens. A liquid crystal film is separated into a number of portions by the number of transparent conductive layers, wherein a transmissive state of each portion, from the number of portions of the liquid crystal film, with respect to light is configured to change in response to application of a voltage to the number of transparent conductive layers.

An optical system with an electronically variable iris. The optical system comprises an optical lens. A number of transparent conductive layers is coupled to an optical surface of the optical lens. A liquid crystal film is separated into a number of portions by the number of transparent conductive layers, wherein a transmissive state of each portion, from the number of portions of the liquid crystal film, with respect to light is configured to change in response to application of a voltage to the number of transparent conductive layers.

Liquid crystal-based devices for detecting a target contaminant in air, including hydrogen, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, ammonia or carbon monoxide, and methods of using such devices to detect the target contaminant are disclosed. Such devices have a substrate surface that includes one or more metals or metal alloys that is in contact with a liquid crystal composition. When the device is contacted with a sample that contains the target contaminant, an observed change in the orientational ordering of the liquid crystal signals the presence of the target contaminant. In the absence of the target contaminant, no change in orientational ordering occurs.

Liquid crystal-based devices for detecting a target contaminant in air, including hydrogen, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, ammonia or carbon monoxide, and methods of using such devices to detect the target contaminant are disclosed. Such devices have a substrate surface that includes one or more metals or metal alloys that is in contact with a liquid crystal composition. When the device is contacted with a sample that contains the target contaminant, an observed change in the orientational ordering of the liquid crystal signals the presence of the target contaminant. In the absence of the target contaminant, no change in orientational ordering occurs.

Stable, macroscopic single-crystal chiral liquid crystal compositions are described. The compositions include a single-crystal chiral liquid crystal material on a patterned surface. The patterned surface seeds a particular crystallographic orientation at the substrate-liquid crystal interface. Also described are methods of forming the single-crystal chiral liquid crystal compositions.

The present invention describes a liquid crystal composite tunable device for fast polarisation-independent modulation of an incident light beam comprising: (a) two supporting and functional panels, at least one of them coated with a transparent conductive electrode layer and with optionally at least one additional layer selected from an alignment layer, antireflective coating layer, thermochromic or electrochromic layer, photoconductive or photosensitive layer, and (b) a composite structure sandwiched between said two panels and made of a liquid crystal and porous microparticles infiltrated with said liquid crystal. The porous microparticles have an average refractive index approximately equals to one of the liquid crystal principal refractive indices, matching that of the liquid crystal at one orientational state (for example, parallel n.sub.∥), and exhibiting large mismatch at another orientational state (for example, perpendicular n.sub.⊥). This refractive index mismatch between said microparticles and said liquid crystal is tuned by applying an external electric or magnetic field, thermally or optically.

The present invention describes a liquid crystal composite tunable device for fast polarisation-independent modulation of an incident light beam comprising: (a) two supporting and functional panels, at least one of them coated with a transparent conductive electrode layer and with optionally at least one additional layer selected from an alignment layer, antireflective coating layer, thermochromic or electrochromic layer, photoconductive or photosensitive layer, and (b) a composite structure sandwiched between said two panels and made of a liquid crystal and porous microparticles infiltrated with said liquid crystal. The porous microparticles have an average refractive index approximately equals to one of the liquid crystal principal refractive indices, matching that of the liquid crystal at one orientational state (for example, parallel n.sub.∥), and exhibiting large mismatch at another orientational state (for example, perpendicular n.sub.⊥). This refractive index mismatch between said microparticles and said liquid crystal is tuned by applying an external electric or magnetic field, thermally or optically.

A liquid crystal mixture is disclosed that has a certain rotational sense when placed in a liquid crystal device and an opposite rotational sense when removed from the liquid crystal device. The liquid crystal mixture may be utilized, for example, in liquid crystal displays to achieve high contrast and to reduce potential defects and misalignments.

A liquid crystal panel and a manufacture method thereof, a liquid crystal display device are disclosed. The manufacture method of a liquid crystal panel includes: providing a first substrate, a second substrate and a liquid crystal layer between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein the liquid crystal layer includes a liquid crystal material and photopolymerizable monomers; and exposing the liquid crystal layer to allow the photopolymerizable monomers to be polymerized at a position of exposing to form a columnar spacer.