Tunability of optical memory in ferroelectric liquid crystal containing polyvinylpyrrolidone capped Ni nanoparticles for low power and faster device operation

We demonstrate here tunability of optical memory and faster electro-optic response in ferroelectric liquid crystal dispersed with ferromagnetic nickel nanoparticles. Minute concentration of Ni induced an optical memory at a DC field as small as 2 V owing to the magnetoelectric effect of spin dependent screening. Memory retention period could be tuned by varying DC field and the concentration of nanoparticles as well. Furthermore, there is a remarkable improvement in response time (80%) and rotational viscosity of ferroelectric liquid crystal-Ni mixtures which is attributed to the coupling of strong intrinsic field of Ni nanoparticles with liquid crystal molecular director field.