A New Non-Rubbing Technique for Liquid Crystal Alignment

A new non-rubbing technique for uniform, planar alignment of liquid crystals has been developed. It involves a combination of chemisorption and UV-induced photo-dimerization. By varying chemical structure of the outermost part of the alignment layer, it has been possible to control the pretilt of the liquid crystal molecules at the surface ranging from 0 to 20 degrees. A feature of the process is that it is a room temperature process and applicable to a variety of substrates. Data on LCD cells fabricated using these alignment layers are presented.