The present invention relates to a liquid crystal (LC) medium comprising polymerisable compounds, to a process for its preparation, to its use for optical, electro-optical and electronic purposes, in particular in LC displays, and to LC displays comprising it.

Provided is a liquid crystal composition, which comprises a component prepared from one or more compounds selected from a general formula I; and a component prepared from one or more compounds selected from a general formula II. The liquid crystal composition has the characteristics of low viscosity, high reliability, appropriate optical anisotropy, and appropriate dielectric anisotropy, and is applicable to liquid crystal display devices.

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The invention relates to an electro-optical liquid-crystal display having a re-alignment layer for re-alignment of the liquid crystals whose field has a component, crucial for the re-alignment, parallel to the liquid-crystal layer, containing a liquid-crystalline medium, characterized in that it comprises one or more compounds of the formula I1 to I3, (I1) (I2) (I3) and at least one compound of the formula II, in which the parameters R.sup.11, R.sup.11*, Z.sup.0, Sp, k, l, p, Y.sup.21 to Y.sup.22, R.sup.21 and R.sup.22 have the meanings indicated in claim 1.

The present invention relates to a method for fabricating an array of nanoparticle clusters, in which a thermally transformable organic liquid crystal film having a periodic array of micro-sized dimple-like defect structures spontaneously transformed by thermal sublimation of liquid crystal molecules is used as a template, and nanoparticles form self-assembled clusters having a uniform size with respect to the defect structures, thereby achieving a periodic array of nanoparticle clusters.

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal (LC) medium comprising polymerisable compounds, to a process for its preparation, to its use for optical, electro-optical and electronic purposes, in particular in LC displays, and to LC displays comprising it.

The present invention provides a polymerizable compound denoted by Formula (I): in the formula, Z.sup.1 and Z.sup.2 represent an arylene group, and the like, m represents 1 or 2, n represents an integer of 0 or 1, and when m is 2, n is 0, L.sup.1, L.sup.2, L.sup.3, and L.sup.4 each independently represent a linking group such as C(O)O and OC(O), T.sup.3 represents -Sp.sup.4-R.sup.4, X represents O, and the like, r represents 1 to 4, Sp.sup.1, Sp.sup.2, Sp.sup.3, Sp.sup.4, and Sp.sup.5 each independently represent a single bond or a linking group, R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 each independently represent a polymerizable group, and R.sup.3, R.sup.4, and R.sup.5 each independently represent a hydrogen atom, a polymerizable group, or the like; a polymerizable composition containing the polymerizable compound described above; a film formed of the polymerizable composition described above; and a half mirror for displaying a projection image including the film described above. ##STR00001##

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal (LC) medium comprising polymerisable compounds, to a process for its preparation, to its use for optical, electro-optical and electronic purposes, in particular in LC displays, and to LC displays comprising it.

The subject is to provide a liquid crystal compound satisfying at least one of physical properties such as a high stability to heat or light, a high clearing point (or a high maximum temperature), a low minimum temperature of a liquid crystal phase, a small viscosity, a suitable optical anisotropy, a large dielectic anisotropy, a suitable elastic constant and an excellent compatibility with any other liquid crystal compound, a liquid crystal composition including this compound and a liquid crystal display device including this composition. The compound is represented by the following formula (1a): ##STR00001##
wherein R.sup.1 is alkyl having 1 to 15 carbons or the like; ring A.sup.1, ring A.sup.2, ring A.sup.3 and ring A.sup.4 are independently 1,4-phenylene, naphthalene-2,6-diyl or the like; Z.sup.1 and Z.sup.2 are independently a single bond or the like; o and p are independently 0, 1 or 2; and n is an integer from 2 to 10.

The present invention provides a polymerizable compound denoted by Formula (I): in the formula, Z.sup.1 and Z.sup.2 represent an arylene group, and the like, m represents 1 or 2, n represents an integer of 0 or 1, and when m is 2, n is 0, L.sup.1, L.sup.2, L.sup.3, and L.sup.4 each independently represent a linking group such as C(O)O and OC(O), T.sup.3 represents -Sp.sup.4-R.sup.4, X represents O, and the like, r represents 1 to 4, Sp.sup.1, Sp.sup.2, Sp.sup.3, Sp.sup.4, and Sp.sup.5 each independently represent a single bond or a linking group, R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 each independently represent a polymerizable group, and R.sup.3, R.sup.4, and R.sup.5 each independently represent a hydrogen atom, a polymerizable group, or the like; a polymerizable composition containing the polymerizable compound described above; a film formed of the polymerizable composition described above; and a half mirror for displaying a projection image including the film described above.

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