Towards nanoscale molecular switch-based liquid crystal displays

• Functional, nanoscale molecular switches used in liquid crystals are reviewed.
• Molecular switch-based liquid crystal displays are discussed.
• Principles of molecular switch-based liquid crystal displays are presented.

Cholesteric liquid crystals (Ch-LCs) have been extensively studied due to their unique self-organized helical molecular structures and selective Bragg reflection properties, which exhibit great potentials for color displays and other practical applications. When functional, nanoscale molecular switches are doped in liquid crystals (LCs), the phases of the LCs or the molecular structures of the Ch-LCs can be changed upon the influence of external stimuli, such as light and temperature. In this paper, the photoresponsive molecular switch-based LCs for display applications are reviewed. The progress and effort in developing molecular switches, the principles of light-tuning, photo-addressed color displays, information processing, bistable displays and flexible displays are presented.