Study of electro-optical properties of liquid crystal/reactive mesogen-coated liquid crystal display fabricated by slit coater

Uniform Lying Helix of Cholesteric Liquid Crystals Aligned by means of Slit Coater Method with Electric Treatment

“…The mechanism of the helix's tendency to align perpendicularly to the slit-coating direction is interpreted as follows: as demonstrated in our previous papers [11]- [14], LC molecules tend to align parallel to the coating direction because of the shear-induced flow. As for the helix's direction, however, it is possible to form a standing helix (Grandjean texture) against the substrate.…”

“…As for the substrate, a glass plate (t = 1.1 mm) or polycarbonate (PC) film (t = 0.1 mm) with transparent electrodes (Indium-Tin-Oxide film, ITO) whose rectangular electrode area is 15 × 22 mm 2 was used. The LC layer was formed by slit coating [11]- [14] under the following conditions: the slit-lip width was 20 μm, and the coating gap (i.e., the distance between the substrate and the lip) was approximately 100 μm. The moving velocity of the stage was 0.5 mm/s as controlled by a stepper motor.…”

“…Various methods involving a combinations of mechanical, thermal, and electric field cycling [1], [2], [5], a periodic anchoring condition [8], electro-hydrodynamic effects using materials with high dielectric anisotropy [9], and tri-electrodes configuration [10] have all been used with some effectiveness. We have recently proposed a slitcoating method as a novel fabrication process for flexible LCDs [11]- [14]. The most appealing feature of the slitcoating method is that an alignment film, such as polyimide, is unnecessary.…”

Study of Liquid Crystal Alignment Using Slit Coater under Different Application Velocities

“…The advantage of the slit coater method is that an alignment film and its thermal coating process are unnecessary. Twisted nematic (TN) mode LCDs, inplane switching (IPS) mode LCDs, and uniform lying helix (ULH) mode LCDs fabricated by the slit coater method have been demonstrated [5,9], and the surface anchoring energy has been surveyed [6,7]. However, the optimal fabrication conditions of the slit coating of LC materials has not yet been investigated.…”

“…Prof. Fujikake's group has demonstrated flexible LCDs that use polymer-wall technologies [2], and bendable LCDs have been realized using polyimide substrates [3]. Recently, the slit coater method was devised as a novel fabrication process for flexible LCDs [4][5][6][7][8][9]. The advantage of the slit coater method is that an alignment film and its thermal coating process are unnecessary.…”