Induced Antiferroelectric Phases in Multicomponent Systems

Materials with induced antiferroelectric phase (SmCA * ) composed of components having synclinic (SmC* _) or orthogonal (SmA) phases have been studied. The characterization included profiles of light transmission curves, response times, threshold, saturation and holding voltages, grey scale, static and dynamic contrast ratio and cone angle between (+) and (-) ferroelectric states. The mixture A70-B30 showed V-shaped (thresholdless) switching, while the mixture 115-C85 showed a threshold with a broad hysteresis curve of tristate antiferroelectrics.