Long Term Stability of Polymer Stabilized Blue Phase Liquid Crystals

The issue of long term stability of polymer stabilized blue phase liquid crystals was investigated. It was found that for certain liquid crystals and commonly used chiral dopant combinations, polymer stabilized blue phase liquid crystals develop dendrite like structures. These features are highly scattering and are detrimental to the uniformity of texture. Various possible causes were looked into and it was identified that crystallization of the chiral dopant leads to dendrites and a possible remedy is proposed.