Page "Liquid crystal" Paragraph 10

Liquid crystal materials became a topic of research into the development of flat panel electronic displays beginning in 1962 at RCA Laboratories.

When physical chemist Richard Williams applied an electric field to a thin layer of a nematic liquid crystal at 125 ° C, he observed the formation of a regular pattern that he called domains ( now known as Williams Domains ).

This led his colleague George H. Heilmeier to perform research on a liquid crystal-based flat panel display to replace the cathode ray vacuum tube used in televisions.

Unfortunately the para-Azoxyanisole that Williams and Heilmeier used exhibits the nematic liquid crystal state only above 116 ° C, which made it impractical to use in a commercial display product.

A material that could be operated at room temperature was clearly needed.