Bistable transflective cholesteric light shutters.

We have presented a bistable transflective cholesteric light shutter. The shutter contains dual-frequency cholesteric liquid crystals that incorporate a photocurable monomer. The electro-optical properties and optical microscope images of the shutter were examined. Good correlations between the cholesteric textures and optical properties of the shutters were obtained. The shutter was switched into a wide-band homogeneous transmission mode by a low frequency voltage pulse, and into a selective reflection mode using a high-frequency voltage pulse. The concentration of the monomer apparently affected the electro-optical characteristics of the shutter.