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Liquid crystals are widely used in flat panel displays and smart windows. In flat panel display application, one way to improve the efficiency is to decrease the driving frequency when static images are displayed. As the driving frequency is decreased, the transmittance of the display may vary with time, a phenomenon known as flickering. We carried out both experimental and simulation studies to investigate the origins that cause the flickering problem. Our results show that flexoelectric effect and ions in the liquid crystal are the main factors responsible for the flickering. We quantitatively analyzed the flickering caused by the two factors. The ionic effect can be eliminated by using the fluorinated liquid crystals with high resistivity. The flexoelectric effect is attributed to the intrinsic flexoelectric coefficient of the liquid crystal and nonuniformity of the liquid crystal director configurations. We demonstrated that polymer stabilization can smooth the spatial variation of the liquid crystal orientation, while doping a liquid crystal dimer can reduce the flexoelectric coefficient of the liquid crystal. Using these methods we are able to reduce the flickering significantly. Radiant energy-flow control and privacy control are two important features for smart windows (or glass). Current smart window technologies can, however, only control one of them: radiant energy flow or privacy. Therefore, a dual-mode smart window is highly desirable. We developed a dual-mode switchable liquid-crystal window that can control both radiant energy flow and privacy. The switchable liquid-crystal window makes use of dielectric and flexoelectric effects. In the absence of an applied voltage, the window is clear and transparent, and radiant energy can flow through it and the scenery behind the window can be seen. When a low-frequency (50 Hz) voltage is applied, the window is switched to an optical scattering and absorbing state by a flexoelectric effect, and thus, privacy is protected. When a high-frequency (1 kHz) voltage is applied, the window is switched to an optical absorbing but nonscattering state through a dielectric effect, and thus, radiant energy flow is controlled. Smart windows can be categorized mainly into two types according to the operation principle: electrical switchable window and thermal switchable windows. In the electric switchable window, voltage must be applied to switch the window, which consumes energy and is not environmentally friendly. Therefore, a power-free smart window is highly demanded. We developed a thermal switchable smart window that is sensitive to ambient temperature. The window is based on a liquid crystal whose orientation imposed by an alignment layer varies with temperature. The liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between two parallel polarizers to make the window. At high temperature, the liquid crystal is aligned parallel to the cell substrate and rotates the polarization of the incident light after the first polarizer by 90o such that incident light is completely absorbed by the second polarizer, and the transmittance of the window is 0. When temperature is decreased, the liquid crystal is tilted toward the cell substrate normal and rotates the polarization of the incident light less so that some light can pass the second polarizer, and the transmittance of the window increases. When temperature is decreased below a critical value, the liquid crystal is aligned perpendicular to the cell substrate and does not rotate the polarization of the incident light such that all light passes the second polarizer, and the transmittance reaches a maximum.
