Blue Phase-Polymer-Templated Ferroelectric Nematic Liquid Crystal

Ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals (NFLCs) are promising electronic materials owing to their giant permittivity, polarization, and nonlinear optical coefficients. Although it is difficult to polymer-stabilize the NFLC orientation state due to their low affinity to polymers, in this study, we have succeeded in stabilizing the orientation into a blue phase (BP) three-dimensional structure by using BP polymer networks. This BP polymer-templated NFLC retains their ferroelectric properties and stabilizes with macroscopically canceled polarization due to the BP structure. The large polarization and dielectric constant of the NFLCs resulted in a large electro-optical Kerr effect. In addition, Curie point was observed in the BP polymer-templated NFLC, indicating the existence of multiple kinetic modes in the NFLCs themselves. This breakthrough expands the range of applications for both BPs and NFLCs.