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 display device includes a display panel including a first area, a second area, and a bending area disposed between the first area and the second area, the bending area having a curvature radius, a data driver disposed on the display panel and overlapping the second area in a plan view, and a bending protection layer disposed on the display panel and the data driver and overlapping the first area in a plan view, the bending area, and the second area. The bending protection layer includes a thermochromic pigment having a light transmittance that varies according to a temperature.

A light shielding member of the present invention includes a first polarizing plate, a second polarizing plate facing the first polarizing plate, and a thermosensitive sheet interposed between the first polarizing plate and the second polarizing plate, in which the first polarizing plate and the second polarizing plate are positioned so that their respective transmission axes are different from each other, and the thermosensitive sheet contains a side chain crystal polymer that crystallizes at a temperature lower than the melting point and exhibits fluidity at a temperature of the melting point or higher. The light shielding member may transmit light at a temperature lower than the melting point and may not transmit light at a temperature of the melting point or higher, when light travels from one of the first polarizing plate and the second polarizing plate toward the other.

The present invention describes a liquid crystal composite tuneable 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.

Display panel and display device are provided. The display panel includes a plurality of pixels and a blocking metal wire. The pixel includes a display unit and a control unit driving the display unit. The display unit at least includes a heating element and a phase change material layer. The heating element includes a first connecting terminal and a second connecting terminal. The control unit includes a first signal terminal and a second signal terminal. The control unit includes at least one diode, which includes a diode semiconductor layer including a first electrode contact region, a second electrode contact region and a connecting region. The blocking metal wire covers the connecting region and is insulated from the connecting region. The blocking metal wire is electrically connected to each of the first signal terminal and the first signal source or to each of the second connecting terminal and the second signal source.

A liquid crystal display device, being widely used in the fields such as electronic tags, electronic papers, business cards and flexible display screens or the like, and a driving method for the liquid crystal display device. The liquid crystal display device has an upper substrate, a lower substrate and one or more layers of an encapsulated liquid crystal sandwiched between the upper substrate and the lower substrate. The layers of the encapsulated liquid crystal include two different liquid crystal microcapsules uniformly mixed. Combined with a driving method of a combination of high-low voltage and high-low temperature, a color display effect of high contrast and repeatable writing can be achieved.

The high-pixel-count uncooled thermal imaging arrays disclosed herein have liquid crystal (LC) microcavity transducers separate from the read-out integrated circuit (ROIC). The transducer converts incident infrared (IR) radiation in birefringence changes that can be measured with visible light. In other words, the system uses the temperature sensitivity of the LC birefringence to convert the IR scene to a visible image. Measurements on sample arrays indicate that the LC material quality is similar to that of bulk samples and has good noise performance. Additionally, high-fill-factor arrays on fused-silica substrates may be processed to enable optimization of conditions for greatly improved temperature sensitivity. An additional IR absorber layer may be integrated into the process to tune the structure for the infrared.

A touchscreen panel is configured to accept an input touch command. The touchscreen panel includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) layer. The touchscreen panel also includes a touch sensor having a receiving element and a transmitting element, each arranged on the LCD layer. The receiving element and the transmitting element together are configured to detect an impending touch of the touch sensor via a hover system and a touch event in a touch-detecting mode. At least one of the receiving element and the transmitting element is configured to operate in a heating mode, as a heating element, when the impending touch of the touch sensor is not detected. The resultant heating element generates a heat energy input to the LCD layer and accelerates responsiveness of the LCD layer to the touch event. A method of controlling a touchscreen panel is also disclosed.

A tunable parametric mixer comprising a pump laser, a nonlinear waveguide, and a refractive index tuner. The pump laser is configured to generate pump photons. The nonlinear waveguide comprises a cladding and a core. The core is made of nonlinear optical material and the cladding in made of a material with a tunable index of refraction. The nonlinear waveguide is configured to convert the pump photons into signal and idler photons. The refractive index tuner is configured to change the refractive index of the cladding to dynamically tune the dispersion properties of the nonlinear waveguide in order to alter a spectral location of a gain band of the parametric mixer.

A rewritable and freezable lens and method for manufacturing thereof are disclosed. This lens includes at least one active element that has optical properties that can be written, frozen and rewritten into new values at least twice. Rewritable and freezable lenses comprising active index polymer dispersed liquid crystal materials are disclosed. In-situ re-adaptation of spectacle and contact lenses is possible at the point of sale. In-vivo re-adaptation of intraocular lenses in the doctor's room is feasible, avoiding further surgery.