Abstract
In this work, the detailed studies of surface polymerization stabilizing liquid crystal formed on an azodye sublayer are presented. The surface localized stabilization is obtained by free-radical polymerization of a dilute solution of a bi-functional reactive monomer (RM) in a liquid crystal (LC) solvent. To optimize the process for surface localized stabilization, we investigate the effects of several process parameters including RM concentration in LC hosts, the types of materials (either RM or LC), the photo-initiator (PI) concentration, ultra-violet (UV) polymerization intensity, and the UV curing temperature. The quality of surface localized stabilization is characterized and/or evaluated by optical microscopy, electro-optical behavior (transmission/voltage curve), the life test, and photo-bleaching. Our results show that, by carefully selecting materials, formulating mixtures, and controlling the polymerizing variables, the RM polymerization can be realized either at the surface or through the bulk. Overall, the combination of surface localized stabilization and photo-alignment offers an elegant and dynamic solution for controlling the alignment for LC, which could play a profound role in almost all liquid crystal optical devices.
Highlights
Well-aligned liquid crystal (LC) layers are required in almost all their electro-optic applications.Currently, the dominant liquid crystal alignment method–mechanically rubbed polyimide suffers several problems such as the creation of contaminating particles, scratches, and electrostatic charges [1].alternative non-contact techniques to align liquid crystals are preferred
One drawback of the azo dye photo-alignment layer is its instability to subsequent exposure to light
In influence the surface stabilization. By tuning these show drastic differences. These may be ascribed to the solubility limit of the monomer
Summary
Well-aligned liquid crystal (LC) layers are required in almost all their electro-optic applications.Currently, the dominant liquid crystal alignment method–mechanically rubbed polyimide suffers several problems such as the creation of contaminating particles, scratches, and electrostatic charges [1].alternative non-contact techniques to align liquid crystals are preferred. Well-aligned liquid crystal (LC) layers are required in almost all their electro-optic applications. The dominant liquid crystal alignment method–mechanically rubbed polyimide suffers several problems such as the creation of contaminating particles, scratches, and electrostatic charges [1]. Alternative non-contact techniques to align liquid crystals are preferred. As one of the most promising non-contact alignment methods, photo-alignment can utilize the polarized light to generate the anisotropy on the substrate surface, which overcomes the problems mentioned above [2,3,4,5,6]. One drawback of the azo dye photo-alignment layer is its instability to subsequent exposure to light
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