Pretilt Angle Research Articles

Novel fabrication method of polymer-sustained-alignment liquid crystal cell formed from the monomer containing benzil-group

ABSTRACT A new fabrication method and its monomer for a polymer-sustained-alignment liquid-crystal (PSA-LC) cell was proposed in this study. The proposed process for formation of a polymer layer is a method to expose visible light for polymerisation of the monomers. As the visible light, a LED-backlight of a LC display (LCD) was used through the intermediary of a polariser. Therefore, the polymer layer was formed by the exposure of the LED-backlight after construction of the LCD. The proposed monomer is 4,4ʹ-dimethacryloyl-oxy-benzil, which can generate a radical by a hydrogen abstraction reaction for an initiation of the polymerisation under exposure of the visible light. The fabricated PSA-LC cell with the proposed method showed high voltage holding ratio, low residual direct current voltage, and comparably small difference in pretilt angle before and after application of an alternate current voltage. Therefore, we can expect that the PSA-LCD would be fabricated without the exposure process of the UV light. Moreover, the PSA-LCD fabricated by the proposed method would be a small level of image sticking.

Large, Tunable Liquid Crystal Pretilt Achieved by Enhanced Out-of-Plane Reorientation of Azodye Thin Films.

In-plane, or azimuthal, photo-reorientation of azodye films using polarized exposure makes them promising alignment layers for a host of liquid crystal (LC) applications beyond displays including beam steering, q-plates, liquid crystal elastomer origami, and control of active matter. Out-of-plane, or polar, reorientation of azodye films, which dictates the liquid crystal pretilt, has received far less attention. Spatial control over the full polar and azimuthal orientation enables the generation of complex patterns that have broad interests and applications. In this paper, we describe an enhanced out-of-plane reorientation in Brilliant Yellow films utilizing a two-step exposure and demonstrate a liquid crystal pretilt angle that is tunable over a range of 0-33° with the associated anchoring strength of the alignment layer being unaffected by the inclusion of a pretilt. We report an order of magnitude increase in both amplitude and tunability of the pretilt angle in terms of previous results for single photoalignment films. This is a significant result for liquid crystal applications because it offers a simple, scalable, single-component solution with the potential to provide three-dimensional (3-D) patternability of the LC director at the surface.

Azimuthal and polar anchoring energies of aligning layers structured by nonlinear laser lithography

ABSTRACT In spite of the fact that there are different techniques in the creation of the high-quality liquid crystals (LCs) alignment by means of various surfaces, the azimuthal and polar anchoring energies as well as the pre-tilt angle are important parameters to all of them. Here, the modified by a certain manner aligning layers, previously formed by nonlinear laser lithography (NLL), having high-quality nano-periodic grooves on Ti surfaces, recently proposed for LC alignment was studied. The change of the scanning speed of NLL in the process of nano-structured Ti surfaces and their further modification by means of ITO-coating, and deposition of polyimide film has enabled different aligning layers, whose main characteristics, namely azimuthal and polar anchoring energies, were measured. For the modified aligning layers, the dependencies of the twist and pre-tilt angles for LC cells filled by nematic E7 (Δε > 0) and MLC-6609 (Δε < 0) were obtained. Also, the contact angle for droplets of isotropic liquid (glycerol), and nematic LCs was measured for the various values of the scanning speed during the laser processing.

Annihilation dynamics of reverse tilt domains in nematic liquid crystals

Reverse tilt domains are induced in a nematic liquid crystal confined in cells with near-zero pretilt angle homogeneous alignment. The domains emerge in the shape of “closed loops” and will annihilate over a time scale of seconds to minutes. The annihilation dynamics of single isolated domains as well as the coarsening dynamics of a number of domains are investigated in detail. The system maps onto the uniform Ising model and is characterized by a single length scale L(t). The dynamical scaling laws previously proposed for coarsening dynamics of topological defects in symmetry breaking phase transitions are verified also for the electric field induced reverse tilt domains while varying external parameters, including electric field amplitude, frequency, temperature and cell gap.

Computer analysis of the influence of technological parameters of a high–speed liquid crystal modulator on its integral characteristics

The purpose of this article is a computer analysis of various designs of LC light modulators. Based on the integrated characteristics of the LC modulator, its optimal design is found. It was shown that the LC modulator based on the LC structure with a twist angle of 270° under antisymmetric boundary conditions with small values of the pretilt angles on the orienting substrates, operating in the waveguide mode and using a phase film compensator, has optimal integral characteristics. The results of comparing the integral characteristics of the LC modulator based on various LC structures are presented.

Accurate determination on the pre-tilt angle of liquid crystal cell by combining optical and electrical measurement

ABSTRACT In order to accurately determine the pre-tilt angle, we proposed a systematic method by combining optical and electrical measurement. First, the pre-tilt angles of the parallel and vertical aligned nematic liquid crystal (LC) cell with a large thickness (>10 μm) were measured by the crystal rotation method. Then, the material parameters of E7, including the dielectric constant and the splay and bend elastic constant, were obtained by using the dual-cell capacitance model and comparing the capacitance-voltage (C-U) curves of the thick cells. Finally, the pre-tilt angles of two thin LC cells to be tested were determined by theoretical and experimental fitting of their normalised C-U curve, which are 1.80°±0.04° and 3.50°±0.02°, respectively. Our method not only has relatively high accuracy, but also is not limited by the thickness and mode of LC cell.

Polymer-sustained-alignment liquid crystal cell produced from the monomer containing benzilketal-group and its image sticking property

ABSTRACT As a model of polymer-sustained-alignment liquid crystal display (PSA-LCD), the LC cells having the polymer layers produced from mixed monomers of 4,4ʹ-dimethacryloyl-oxy-biphenyl (4,4ʹ-DMABiph) and 4,4ʹ-dimethacryloyl-oxy-benzilketal (4,4ʹ-DMABzk) were fabricated and investigated image sticking phenomenon with evaluations of residual direct current voltage (V rDC) and difference in pretilt angle before and after application of alternate current voltage (∆tilt). A rate constant of the polymerisation became remarkably large with an addition of a small amount of 4,4ʹ-DMABzk into 4,4ʹ-DMABiph. The V rDC was effectively improved with the addition of a small amount of 4,4ʹ-DMABzk because the concentrations of radicals and/or ions in the LC layer were decreased due to enlargement for the rate constant of the polymerisation. The Δtilt was small enough only below 10% of 4,4ʹ-DMABzk in the mixed monomers of 4,4ʹ-DMABiph and 4,4ʹ-DMABzk. We confirmed that the PSA-LC cell produced from the mixed monomers of 4,4ʹ-DMABiph and 4,4ʹ-DMABzk with the weight ratio of 4,4ʹ-DMABzk between 6% and 10% was useful for obtaining the small level of image sticking.

Curved vertical‐alignment liquid crystal display with uniform brightness: From pixel design to verification

AbstractCurved liquid crystal display (LCD) suffers from an issue of uneven brightness among the vertical‐alignment LCD panels based on thin glass substrates. In this work, we investigated its origin through optical simulation and successfully realized uniform brilliance for 27‐inch curved LCD panels. The optical simulation revealed that the dark areas on the bending sides of the curved LCD panel originated from the reduced azimuth angle of the liquid crystals (LC) next to the ITO trunk. This issue could be resolved by decreasing the pretilt angle of the LC on the color filter side. Through developing pretilt angle tuning technologies, we experimentally verified that the uniform brilliance could be achieved for 27‐inch curved LCD panels with 900‐mm curvature on thin glass substrates.

Stabilisation of reverse twisted nematic structure by forming polymer matrix in the vicinity of the alignment layer

ABSTRACT Reverse Twisted Nematic (RTN) LCDs, which use the liquid crystalline materials twisting opposite from the one for usual TN-LCDs, have been reported to be driven by low driving voltage. RTN molecular arrangement can be formed by applying electric voltage to the splay twist state. The formed RTN state can be maintained tentatively, however, returns into splay twist state gradually without applied voltage. For stabilisation of RTN state, polymer matrix formation in the whole LC region was effective but caused driving voltage to increase. The usage of high pretilt angle alignment layers and the introduction of wall structures into LC layer were proposed. However, these methods had the defects like low transmittance and the complicated procedures, respectively. In this article, it is reported that RTN state can be stabilised by the polymer matrix formation just in the vicinity of alignment layer. This phenomenon is considered to be the first successful example in which the LC molecular arrangement twisting opposite from the intrinsic twist direction can be stabilised by fixing the structure near alignment layer surface. By this method, the usage of RTN-LCDs of low driving voltage can be realised.

Low-voltage tunable liquid crystal lens fabricated with self-assembled polymer gravel arrays.

A novel approach for fabricating liquid crystal (LC) lenses is presented. The approach involves the use of a photocurable prepolymer dispersed in a cell fabricated with vertically aligned substrates. A radial gradient UV irradiation intensity distribution is produced using a radial variable neutral density filter. Under UV irradiation, the prepolymer diffuses and is then polymerized on the substrate surfaces owing to vertical phase separation. After polymerization, the diameter of the self-assembled polymer gravel on the substrates has a radial gradient distribution, causing a radial gradient pretilt angle (RGPA) distribution on the substrates and producing LC lenses. By numerical simulation, RGPA LC lens has significantly lower supplied voltage than conventionally hole-patterned electrode (HPE) LC lens, and higher lens power. In the experiment, the fabricated RGPA LC lens with aperture size of 5 mm possesses a simple planar electrode structure, low operation voltage (< 4 V), small root mean square wavefront error (< 0.08 λ), and acceptable focusing quality. By the overdriving scheme, the switched-off time of the fabricated RGPA LC lens reaches 0.27 s. With the novel approach, low-voltage LC lenses with different optical aperture sizes can be easily fabricated.

Dielectric and Electro-Optic Effects in a Nematic Liquid Crystal Doped with h-BN Flakes

A small quantity of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) flakes is doped into a nematic liquid crystal (LC). The epitaxial interaction between the LC molecules and the h-BN flakes rising from the π−π electron stacking between the LC’s benzene rings and the h-BN’s honeycomb structure stabilizes pseudo-nematic domains surrounding the h-BN flakes. Electric field-dependent dielectric studies reveal that the LC-jacketed h-BN flakes follow the nematic director reorientation upon increasing the applied electric field. These anisotropic pseudo-nematic domains exist in the isotropic phase of the LC+h-BN system as well, and interact with the external electric field, giving rise to a nonzero dielectric anisotropy in the isotropic phase. Further investigations reveal that the presence of the h-BN flakes at a low concentration in the nematic LC enhances the elastic constants, reduces the rotation viscosity, and lowers the pre-tilt angle of the LC. However, the Fréedericksz threshold voltage stays mostly unaffected in the presence of the h-BN flakes. Additional studies show that the presence of the h-BN flakes enhances the effective polar anchoring strength in the cell. The enhanced polar anchoring strength and the reduced rotational viscosity result in faster electro-optic switching in the h-BN-doped LC cell.

Preparation and Characterization of Semi-Alicyclic Polyimide Resins and the Derived Alignment Layers for Liquid Crystal Display Technology.

Uniform alignment of rigid-rod liquid crystal (LC) molecules under applied voltage is critical for achievement of high-quality display for thin-film transistor-driven liquid crystal display devices (TFT-LCDs). The polymeric components that can induce the alignment of randomly aligned LC molecules are called alignment layers (ALs). In the current work, a series of organo-soluble polyimide (SPI) ALs were designed and prepared from an alicyclic dianhydride, hydrogenated 3,3′,4,4′-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (HBPDA), and various aromatic diamines, including 4,4′-methylenedianiline (MDA) for SPI-1, 4,4′-aminodianiline (NDA) for SPI-2, 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethyl-4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane (TMMDA) for SPI-3, and 3,3′-diethyl-5,5′-dimethyl-4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane (DMDEDA) for SPI-4. The derived SPI resins were all soluble in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). Four SPI alignment agents with the solid content of 6 wt.% were prepared by dissolving the SPI resins in the mixed solvent of NMP and butyl cellulose (BC) (NMP/BC = 80:20, weight ratio). Liquid crystal minicells were successfully fabricated using the developed SPI varnishes as the LC molecule alignment components. The SPI ALs showed good alignment ability for the LC molecules with the pretilt angles in the range of 1.58°–1.97°. The LC minicells exhibited good optoelectronic characteristics with voltage holding ratio (VHR) values higher than 96%. The good alignment ability of the SPI ALs is mainly attributed to the good comprehensive properties of the SPI layers, including high volume resistivity, high degree of imidization at the processing temperature (230 °C), good rubbing resistance, good thermal stability with glass transition temperatures (Tgs) higher than 260 °C, and excellent optical transparency with the transmittance higher than 97% at the wavelength of 550 nm.

Optical effects in liquid crystal cell with photosensitive chalcogenide glass substrate

We report on the observation of dynamic light-induced annular patterns formation in a planar liquid crystal (LC) cell with chalcogenide microfilm As2S3 as orientating layer. The annular patterns appear under the irradiation of the cell by the laser beam (λ = 473 nm) with Gaussian distribution of intensity. The experimental results are explained in terms of the liquid crystal director reorientation in the LC cell after absorption of light by chalcogenide film. The director reorientation results in the LC refractive index change and formation of annular patterns in LC cell. To theoretically model the system under study we first minimized the total free energy functional subject to Gaussian-type modulation of the pretilt angle at chalcogenide covered substrate. Having found the director spatial profile we studied the light beam propagation through the cell with a spatially modulated pretilt angle. We determined the number of the aberration rings depending on the parameters of the laser beam and LC cell. We believe that light-induced change in the LC director anchoring at chalcogenide film can be applied to the development of various optical and electro-optical elements, such as dynamic micro-lenses, light controlled switchers and triggers, etc.

GRADIENT ALIGNMENT MATERIALS WITH DIFFERENT PHOTOSENSITIVITY FOR TUNABLE POLARIZATION-INDEPENDENT LIQUID CRYSTAL LENS

The development of electrically tunable liquid crystal (LC) lenses is perspective and promising for a wide range of applications, for example, for imaging system, pico projectors, optical zoom systems, ophthalmology applications and other. Of particular note is the development of polarization-independent LC lenses, as eliminates polarizers from application devices that reduce the efficiency of light transmission through optical systems. Alignment benzaldehyde photosensitive materials, capable of changing the pretilt angles of nematic LC from 90 to 0 ºС in a controlled manner under UV exposure are developed. The anisotropy of the benzaldehyde alignment layers is generated by a two-stage treatment consisting of uniform rubbing with a cloth and subsequent non-polarized UV exposure. Inhomogeneous UV exposure of uniformly rubbed alignment layers allows formation of refractive index gradient inside the LC cell. The concept of tunable polarization-independent self-aligned LC lens based on gradient pretilt angle alignment materials with different photosensitivity is demonstrated. Self-alignment of two polarization-dependent sub-lens is achieved due to a single UV exposure act of two alignment layers, which are located on the same piece of glass on both sides, forming one common optical axis for a polarization-independent LC lens. The independence of the polarization of LC lenses is achieved by setting the azimuthal rubbing direction of the alignment layers of two polarizationdependent LC lenses perpendicular to each other. The sub-lens cells have uniform cell gap and are independently controlled using low-voltage driving. Devices based on gradient benzaldehyde alignment materials can be used in many modern optical and photonic devices.

Bulk-mediated in-situ homogeneous photoalignment induced by reactive mesogen containing diphenylacetylene moiety

ABSTRACTWe designed and synthesised a reactive mesogen containing diphenylacetylene moiety in the mesogenic core and two polymerisable acrylate groups at both ends. By irradiating linearly polarised UV light on the conventional host LC mixture containing a small amount of the synthesised reactive mesogen in a sandwiched cell without an alignment layer, we demonstrated an in-situ photo-induced homogeneous alignment of liquid crystals without a pre-treated alignment layer, which was achieved by an irreversible polarisation-selective [2 + 2] photodimerization of diphenylacetylene moiety with linearly polarised UV irradiation at above the isotropic temperature of LC mixture. The resulting homogeneous alignment showed a superior initial dark state, negligible pretilt angle and excellent stabilities. Furthermore, the in-plane switching (IPS) LC cell prepared by this method exhibited a better dark state and electro-optic performance compared to that with conventional-rubbed polyimide alignment layer. The single photoirradiation process automatically resulted in a perfect alignment matching of optical axes between the top and bottom substrates in the LC cell, giving rise to an excellent dark state overcoming an intrinsic misalignment issue and complex fabrication process. The proposed in-situ alignment method is a promising candidate for cost-effective, green-manufacturing, and high-quality alignment technique in the manufacturing of high-resolution liquid crystal displays.

Preparation and alignment properties of photosensitive polyimide containing benzophenone in main chain

ABSTRACTIn order to study the effect of benzophenone (BP) group in the main chain on the photo-alignment behaviour of cinnamoyl groups, a novel photosensitive polyimide (BTDA-PI-CA) is synthesised by 3,3ʹ,4,4ʹ-benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA), 2,2-bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenyl)-hexafluoropropane (AHHFP) and cinnamoyl chloride. The BTDA-PI-CA films exhibit good alignment performance after the non-polarised ultraviolet ageing lamp exposure, which is due to the polyimide with BP group can be used to improve the photosensitivity. Moreover, the thermal stability of the LC cells is pretty good and the pretilt angle of the LC cells is 0.5, which can be used in parallel mode LCD.

A Study on the Parallel Patterning of Nickel Oxide thin Film for Liquid Crystal Display

I investigated the homogeneous liquid crystal alignment using parallel patterning on nickel oxide thin film. Nickel oxide thin film was prepared by sol-gel process, which is and cost effective method to form oxide thin film. Since the sol-gel process is solution driven method, the patterning on nickel oxide can be achieved by imprinting lithography. Nickel oxide with parallel pattern was used for liquid crystal alignment layer, which can be a alternative to conventional rubbing process to aligning a liquid crystal molecules. As a result, a high transmittance of 83.9% was confirmed for the NiO film, and a stable horizontal orientation pretilt angle of 0.2° occurred in the imprinted NiO film. These results were judged to be a positive level that can be commercialized in the horizontal alignment type liquid crystal display that is currently used universally. Anisotropic characteristics of nickel oxide induced by a parallel pattern leads to the alignment of liquid crystals.

Precise local control of liquid crystal pretilt on polymer layers by focused ion beam nanopatterning.

Background: The alignment of liquid crystals by surfaces is crucial for applications. It determines the director configuration in the bulk, its stability against defects and electro-optical switching scenarios. The conventional planar alignment of rubbed polymer layers can be locally flipped to vertical by irradiation with a focused ion beam on a scale of tens of nanometers.Results: We propose a digital method to precisely steer the liquid crystal director tilt at polymer surfaces by combining micrometer-size areas treated with focused ion beam and pristine areas. The liquid crystal tends to average the competing vertical and planar alignment actions and is stabilized with an intermediate pretilt angle determined by the local pattern duty factor. In particular, we create micrometer-sized periodic stripe patterns with this factor gradually varying from 0 to 1. Our optical studies confirm a predictable alignment of a nematic liquid crystal with the pretilt angle continuously changing from 0° to 90°. A one-constant model neglecting the difference between the elastic moduli reproduces the results quantitatively correctly.Conclusion: The possibility of nanofabrication of polymer substrates supporting an arbitrary (from planar to vertical) spatially inhomogeneous liquid crystal alignment opens up prospects of “imprinting” electrically tunable versatile metasurfaces constituting lenses, prisms and q-plates.

Alignment control technology of liquid crystal molecules

AbstractLiquid crystal displays are now indispensable in everyday life. The display characteristics considerably depend on the configuration of liquid crystal (LC) molecules and interactions between the LC molecules and an alignment film surface. In this paper, we introduce various methods to control parameters that dominate the LC alignment. These parameters include order parameters, the pretilt angle, the director direction, and surface anchoring strength. We also introduce their evaluation methods. In particular, recent alignment film‐free technology is explained in detail. In addition, details of how these parameters are related to the display characteristics, particularly wide viewing angles and fast response characteristics, are described primarily with reference to recent technologies.

Surface modified solution‐derived nickel oxide film via ion‐beam irradiation as a liquid crystal alignment layer

AbstractIn this article, we demonstrate the liquid crystal (LC) alignment characteristics of solution‐derived nickel oxide (NiO) film modified with ion‐beam (IB) irradiation. Cross‐polarized optical microscopy and pretilt angle measurements verified that uniform LC alignment was achieved using the NiO film as an alignment layer regardless of IB incidence angle. Contact angle measurements revealed that all of the NiO films had a deionized water contact angle below 90°, which indicates that they had hydrophilic surfaces that had an effect on the homogeneous LC alignment. Atomic force microscopy was conducted to determine the physical surface modification due to the IB irradiation, which showed that it reduced the size of the surface grains with agglomerations depending on the surface tilt from the IB incidence angle. Furthermore, microgroove structures strongly related to uniform LC alignment were observed after IB irradiation. Chemical surface modification was investigated via an X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis which revealed that IB irradiation modified the chemical bonds in the NiO film, and this affected the LC alignment state. Thus, these results indicate that using NiO film exposed to IB irradiation as an alignment layer is a suitable method for LC applications.