Droplet manipulation by electrowetting on polymer dispersed liquid crystal

Abstract

Droplets were successfully manipulated on an electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) device whose dielectric layer was a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) thin film. Dielectric layer is essential to EWOD since it would store charges and change the surface wettability. Therefore, most of the research on the dielectric material was focused on its dielectric constant and strength. However, besides serving as only a capacitor, many dielectric materials possess other physical or chemical characteristics including optical, thermal, and mechanical properties. In this paper, we introduced and investigated electrowetting on an electro-optic material PDLC. By applying a voltage across the PDLC film, dual phenomena, EWOD and electro-optic effects, were achieved. The proposed droplet manipulating device would be beneficial when light regulation is necessary.