I am trying to create a liquid crystal sandwich which i will pass
light through via a projector on to a nice white surface. I want to be
able to modulate the patterns via magnetic feilds or varying degrees
of electricity to create interesting patterns. Sooooo....

 A. I want to know what specific chemicals/compounds are used for
LCDs. Are they readily available for purchase to anyone or do you need
a license.

 B. How would i be able to stimulate the crystals via magnets or
electricity to create variable colors?

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Request for Question Clarification by belindalevez-ga on 14 Oct 2003 02:41 PDT

I am able to answer part A of your question but not part B. I suggest
that you repost the question as two separate questions.

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Clarification of Question by dronestone-ga on 14 Oct 2003 09:23 PDT

Ok. i will re-post the question. Thanks

You probably should start at howstuffworks.com to brush up on lcd's. 
They have diagrams showing LC and ITO-coated glass and stuff.  You can
do it at home.

But to my knowledge, you can't easily use LC to create colors.  There
are some schemes that came and went during the telecom boom (Digilens,
LambdaFlex, TelAztec come to mind) that combine LC with diffraction
gratings to create colors.  Maybe Digilens would work for you?  I
think they do display-related stuff.

If you want interesting colors, look for a Color Kinetics product. 
They make computer-controlled LED lamps that replace colored gels used
for stage-lighting (among other things).

I know it is possible to do what i want using LC. I repair cell phones
for a living and as such have a good deal of experiance with small
LCDs. If you seperate the layers of the glass sandwich you can rotate
the two glass peices and it creates a purple/green hue. Because of
imperfections in the liquid due to seperation there are some really
awsome looking "oily" slicks with lots of little bubbles. Due to the
convex shape of the bubbles they further accentuate the color shift.
Whats also interesting is that if you flip over one of the polarizers
it will go into negative colors with much the same effects.

P.S. i already absorbed much of the content on howstuffworks. it was
helpfull but i need to know specific compounds in order to create what
i am after.