Nematic Liquid Crystals Dispersed with Thermoelectric Gallium Oxide (Ga2O3) Microrods: A Perspective for Improving the Response Time of Electro-Optical Devices

Electro-optic properties of nematic liquid crystals (LCs) based on thermoelectric gallium oxide (Ga2O3) microrod doping have been reported for the first time. Ga2O3-microrod-doped LC cells result in a 5-fold faster response time than pristine LC cell. Doping microrods increases the dielectric anisotropy and remarkably decreases the rotational viscosity of LC. The decreased rotational viscosity and increased dielectric anisotropy are explained by the increased nematic-isotropic phase-transition temperature of the LC mixture. The experimental result discloses that the 0.1 wt % Ga2O3-microrod doped LC cell delivers a response time of 2.46 ms at room temperature, indicating Ga2O3 doping as a promising method for different LC-based display applications.