Search

We propose a novel method to fabricate a uniaxially homogeneous alignment of liquid crystal (LC) molecules without using a conventional alignment layer such as polyimide film. The method produces the polymer alignment layer (PAL) by polymerisation of the monomer including in the LC layer above the TNI of the LC material. The fringe-field switching (FFS) mode LC cell with the PAL (FFS-PAL-LC cell) produced from the monomer 4,4ʹ-di-mehacryloyl-oxy chalcone (4,4ʹ-DMOCh) exhibited enough level of alignment state and electro-optical property compared with the FFS-LC cell having the conventional polyimide-type alignment layer. We can expect that the FFS-PAL-LC cell is useful for next-generation displays such as flexible liquid crystal displays (LCDs) because the method does not need high-temperature process of over 200°C.

A novel reflective color LCD without polarizer has been developed with using PDLC and retro-reflector. Bright color images including moving images are available with utilizing ambient light. Our novel LCD will create a new application area such as electronic paper.

For the first time, we have developed a 60-inch diagonal size see- through display using polymer network liquid crystal (PNLC) technology. The color display system by combination of the see- through display and a projector enables distinguishing eye-catch effect. It creates new application of displays, such as information display, digital signage and substitution of window.

We have developed an over 60-inch size Moth-eye anti-reflection surface, which has original shaped nanostructures. The minimum reflectance was 0.02% and the average was less than 0.04% with little wavelength dependence. Moreover an anti-glare function was added. The 60-inch LCD applied AG Moth-eye surface had an excellent visibility in bright environments.

We have developed a novel reflective LCD without polarizers, which is sure to provide excellent visibility (reflectance = 50%, CR = 10:1). Moreover, we have also achieved extremely low power consumption of 10 microwatts to introduce low frequency driving (less than 1Hz) without flicker and image sticking. These characteristics were realized to combine pixel memory circuit and new PNLC material.

— A novel reflective color LCD without polarizers has been developed using a PDLC film and a retro-reflector. Bright color images including moving images are achievable with ambient light. This novel LCD will enable the new application area of electronic paper.

Novel reflective color LCDs without polarizers have been developed with using PDLCs and retro-reflectors. By eliminating polarizers, brightness of our newly developed LCDs has been increased by 51% compared to conventional reflective LCDs, and there still is much room to be improved. What's more, our LCDs can be displayed not only bright text images but also color moving images on, since their response time and driving voltage are significantly fast (63ms) and low (5.5 volts).