29.4: Homeotropic Alignment by Single Oblique Evaporation of SiO2 and Its Application to High Resolution Microdisplays

Abstract

AbstractWe have discovered that single evaporation of SiO2 can align liquid crytstal either homogeneously or homeotropically depending on the dielectric anisotropy of liquid crystal being positive or negative, respectively. Van der Waals potential taking into account the anisotropy of LC polarizabilities have been used to explain the alignment mechanism The order electricity model proposed by Monkade and Barbero et al. have been extended to qualitatively explain the generation of the pretilt angles. The observed surface morphology of the evaporated SiO2 layer as revealed by the AFM and SEM images is consistent in support of the alignment model. We have applied our alignment method to fabricate a tilted homeotropic microdisplay with a resolution of 1024 by 1280. Its electro‐optical properties are also reported.