Ion Transport in a Reflective Liquid-Crystal-on-Silicon Microdisplay Cell

A built-in potential exists in the reflective liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCoS) microdisplay cell due to the work-function difference between the aluminum and indium–tin-oxide electrodes. As a consequence, the flicker is generated unless the dc offset voltage is applied to compensate the built-in potential. In this paper, we present the experimental result that the dc offset voltage changes with time as the display is operated and the ions are generated in the liquid crystal (LC). To understand the experimental result, we simulate the ion motion in the LCoS cell by considering both the drift and diffusion. We discuss how the ion concentration in the LC affects the screening of the internal electric field in the bulk LC region and subsequently the built-in potential in the LCoS cell. We show that for an ion concentration higher than the value required to fully compensate the initial built-in potential, the polarity of the built-in potential is changed due to the high electric field near electrodes. By matching the experimental and simulation results, we predict how the ion concentration in the LC increases as a function of operation time.