A fast response nematic liquid crystal (LC) modulator using dual fringe field switching (DFFS) mode is demonstrated. Both top and bottom substrates have pixel and common electrodes to generate complementary fringing fields. The cell consists of a vertically aligned LC layer whose dielectric anisotropy is positive. In a voltage-on state, self-imposed thin LC walls near the center of the slits and electrodes are formed and the surrounding LC molecules exert a strong restoring force. As a result, submillisecond gray-to-gray response time is achieved. Two DFFS cells are used as examples to illustrate the design principles for display and photonic applications. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics