Flexoelectric Effect in Fine-patterned In-plane Switching (IPS) Mode

Low-frequency driving of liquid crystal displays can greatly reduce the power consumption, but the flexoelectric effect badly occurs as an optical fluctuation in space and time, so-called image-flickering. In a fringe-field switching (FFS) mode, both dynamic and static image flickering occur whereas, for an in¬plane switching (IPS) mode, dynamic image-flicker takes place with no static flicker. However, the overall transmittance in IPS mode is relatively poor as compared to that of FFS mode. Here, we demonstrate that fine-patterned electrodes and negative dielectric anisotropy liquid crystal can greatly enhance the transmittance as high as that of FFS mode while keeping no static image flicker. The remained dynamic flicker can be also significantly reduced by increasing the magnitude of dielectric anisotropy of liquid crystals. We report the detailed behavior of voltage-and time-dependent transmittances.