Optoelectronics: Photonic Materials and Devices

DT086/DT085
Operation Principle of a Twist-Nematic Liquid Crystal Display

Lab #2
Objective
To study the operation of a Twist-Nematic (TN) liquid crystal cell (one
display pixel) and to measure the threshold voltage of the twist effect in
the nematic liquid crystal.

Equipment
Optical breadboard, He-Ne Laser diode ( = 633 nm), Twist-Nematic liquid
crystal cell with electrodes, Polarizer, Photodetector, Digital multimeter,
Signal generator.

Theory
There are many types of liquid crystal displays, each with unique
properties. The most common LCD that is used for everyday items like
watches and calculators is called the twisted nematic (TN) display. This
device consists of a nematic liquid crystal sandwiched between two plates
of glass. A special surface treatment is given to the glass such that the
molecules at the top glass surface are aligned perpendicularly to those at
the surface of bottom glass. This configuration sets up a 90 degree twist
into the bulk of the liquid crystal, hence the name of the display (Fig.1).

Fig. 1. Molecules inside the sample create a twist- structure.

The underlying principle in a TN display is the manipulation of polarized
light. When light enters the TN cell, the polarization state twists with the
director of the liquid crystal material. For example, consider light polarized
parallel to the director at the bottom of the sample. As is travels through

the cell, its polarization rotates with the molecules. When the light
emerges, it's polarization has rotated 90 degrees from when it entered.
A schematic of a TN cell is shown in the following figure (Fig. 2). The black
lines represent crossed polarizers that are attached to the top and bottom
of the display. As light enters the cell, its polarization rotates with the
molecules. When the light reaches the top of the cell, its polarization
vector has rotated by 90 degrees, and now can pass through the second
polarizer. In a reflecting TN display, a mirror is placed at the bottom of the
cell to reflect the transmitted light. Once again the polarization twists as
the light traverses the sample, and is able to emerge from the top of the
cell.
When an electric field of sufficient magnitude is applied to a sample, the
molecules undergo a Freederickzs transition (Fig. 2, right). Note that in this
state, the twist is destroyed. The director of the bulk liquid crystal is
parallel to the field and no longer twisted. When polarized light enters a
cell in such a configuration, it is not twisted, and is canceled by the second
polarizer. Regions where an electric field is applied appear dark against a
bright background.

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram illustrating operating principle of the twisted

nematic LCD.
Depending on the field strength, twisted nematic displays can switch
between light and dark states, or somewhere in between (grayscale.) How
the molecules respond to a voltage is the important characteristic of this
type of display. The response of a typical twisted nematic cell to an applied
voltage is shown in the following diagram (called an electro-distortional
curve). The tilt of the molecules out of the plane of the glass slides is
measured as a function of the applied voltage.

Fig. 3. Dependence of the molecular tilt versus applied voltage in the

middle of the liquid crystal layer.
In the TN display, the electro-distortional response determines the
transmission of light through the cell. Percent transmission as a function of
voltage is shown in the following diagram. Keep in mind that maximum
transmission for a reflective TN device is only 50 percent because
polarized light must be used.

Fig. 4. Electro-distortional response of a TN LCD pixel.

The vertical lines represent the voltages at which the cell is OFF or ON. In
order to address many pixels with a multiplexing scheme, the differences
in the OFF and ON voltages must be very small. This was difficult to
achieve with the traditional TN structure. This problem was solved with the
invention of the super-twisted nematic (STN) display.

Procedure
To measure the electro-distortional response of the twist-nematic liquid
crystal cell will use the experimental setup shown in Fig. 5.

He-Ne
Laser diode

Photodetector
LC cell

Horizontal
Polarizer
Digital
Multimeter

Signal
Generator

Fig. 5. Experimental setup

1. Turn on the laser diode and using the readings of the digital multimeter adjust the components of the system to achieve a maximum
transmittance in the absence of the voltage applied to the LC cell.
2. Turn on the signal generator. Apply a square wave signal of
frequency 1 kHz increasing the peak-to-peak amplitude from 0 to 10
V in small steps. For each applied voltage record the readings of the
digital multimeter.
3. Plot the dependence of the normalized transmittance versus applied
voltage (similar to the one shown in Fig. 4). Note, that maximum
transmitted intensity corresponds to a unity absolute transmittance
(or 0.5 for unpolarized light).
4. From the obtained plot find the values of OFF and ON voltages (0.9
and 0.1 transmittance correspondingly).
5. Compare your results with typical literature reference values.