The properties of the Surface Stabilized Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Devices (SSFLCD) were characterized empirically by the optical polarization states measured by transmition and/or total reflection ellipsometry. Under a certain triangular wave electric field, the frequency dependence of the hysteresis curves of amplitude ratio (Ψ) were observed. Numerical calculation based on a continuum theory for SSFLCD and 4 × 4 matrix method were also performed. It is also found that the parameters such as cell gap, pretilt angle, elastic constant and spontaneous polarization affect on the hysteresis properties.
