Display applications of field-enforced phase transition in PLZT ceramics

Experiments to determine the applicability of field-enforced reversible transitions between antiferroelectric and ferroelectric phases in PLZT 7.9/70/30 ceramic to flat panel picture display devices reveal that the ceramic has three remarkable advantages over ordinary ferroelectric phase PLZT ceramics. They are: (1) the high transparency of the antiferroelectric PLZT 7.9/70/30 ceramic makes possible a higher contrast display material, (2) the absence of remanent polarization when no electric field is applied makes possible a faster erase display material, and (3) the linear relation between the field-induced scattered light intensity and the simultaneously induced ferroelectric polarization makes possible the control of gray-scale in a display by controlling the polarization charge switched.