A liquid crystal composition includes at least one of liquid crystal molecules represented by Chemical Formulas A and B:

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where in Chemical Formulas A and B, L.sub.1 to L.sub.4 are each independently —H, —F, —Cl, —OCF.sub.3, —CF.sub.3, —CH.sub.2F, or —CHF.sub.2, R.sub.1 to R.sub.4 are each independently hydrogen, a halogen, a cyano group, a C1-C12 alkyl group, or a C1-C12 alkoxy group, and Z.sub.1 to Z.sub.4 are each independently a single bond, —O—, —COO—, —OCO—, —CF.sub.2O—, —OCF.sub.2—, —CH.sub.2O—, —OCH.sub.2—, —SCH.sub.2—, —CH.sub.2S—, —CH.sub.2CH.sub.2—, —C.sub.2F.sub.4—, —CH.sub.2CF.sub.2—, —CF.sub.2CH.sub.2—, —CH.sub.2n—, where n is a natural number of 1 to 12, —CH═CH—, —CF═CF—, —CH═CF—, —CF═CH—, —C═C—, or —CH═CHCH.sub.2O.

A liquid crystal display capable of reducing the occurrence of defective display due to variations in the initial alignment direction of a liquid crystal alignment control film in a liquid crystal display of an IPS scheme, realizing the stable liquid crystal alignment, providing excellent mass productivity, and having high image quality with a higher contrast ratio. The liquid crystal display has a liquid crystal layer disposed between a pair of substrates, at least one of the substrates being transparent, and an alignment control film formed between the liquid crystal layer and the substrate. At least one of the alignment control films 109 comprises photoreactive polyimide and/or polyamic acid provided with an alignment control ability by irradiation of substantially linearly polarized light.

A liquid crystal display capable of reducing the occurrence of defective display due to variations in the initial alignment direction of a liquid crystal alignment control film in a liquid crystal display of an IPS scheme, realizing the stable liquid crystal alignment, providing excellent mass productivity, and having high image quality with a higher contrast ratio. The liquid crystal display has a liquid crystal layer disposed between a pair of substrates, at least one of the substrates being transparent, and an alignment control film formed between the liquid crystal layer and the substrate. At least one of the alignment control films 109 comprises photoreactive polyimide and/or polyamic acid provided with an alignment control ability by irradiation of substantially linearly polarized light.

A liquid crystal light control element that controls a light absorption state by voltage application, the liquid crystal light control element including: a liquid crystal layer containing a liquid crystal composition between a pair of substrates each having an electrode; and a liquid crystal alignment film that is provided on at least one of the substrates and aligns a liquid crystal vertically, wherein the liquid crystal composition contains a liquid crystal and a dichroic dye, the liquid crystal alignment film is obtained from a liquid crystal aligning agent containing a polyimide precursor in which a diamine having a specific side chain is used as a part of the raw material or a polyimide obtained by imidizing the polyimide precursor, and the proportion of the diamine used is 50 to 100 mol % based on the entire diamine component.

A liquid crystal light control element that controls a light absorption state by voltage application, the liquid crystal light control element including: a liquid crystal layer containing a liquid crystal composition between a pair of substrates each having an electrode; and a liquid crystal alignment film that is provided on at least one of the substrates and aligns a liquid crystal vertically, wherein the liquid crystal composition contains a liquid crystal and a dichroic dye, the liquid crystal alignment film is obtained from a liquid crystal aligning agent containing a polyimide precursor in which a diamine having a specific side chain is used as a part of the raw material or a polyimide obtained by imidizing the polyimide precursor, and the proportion of the diamine used is 50 to 100 mol % based on the entire diamine component.

An object is to provide a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal layer in which an alignment film is repeatedly used and a liquid crystal compound in a liquid crystal layer can be sufficiently aligned. The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal layer includes: an alignment film forming step of forming an alignment film on a support; a liquid crystal alignment layer alignment step of laminating a first liquid crystal composition including a polymerizable liquid crystal compound on the alignment film and aligning the first liquid crystal composition; a liquid crystal alignment layer forming step of polymerizing the aligned first liquid crystal composition to form a liquid crystal alignment layer; a liquid crystal layer alignment step of laminating a second liquid crystal composition including a polymerizable liquid crystal compound on a surface of the liquid crystal alignment layer opposite to the alignment film and aligning the second liquid crystal composition; a liquid crystal layer forming step of polymerizing the aligned second liquid crystal composition to form a liquid crystal layer; and a liquid crystal layer separation step of separating the formed liquid crystal layer from the liquid crystal alignment layer, in which the liquid crystal layer alignment step to the liquid crystal layer separation step are repeated to repeatedly prepare the liquid crystal layer.

An object is to provide a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal layer in which an alignment film is repeatedly used and a liquid crystal compound in a liquid crystal layer can be sufficiently aligned. The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal layer includes: an alignment film forming step of forming an alignment film on a support; a liquid crystal alignment layer alignment step of laminating a first liquid crystal composition including a polymerizable liquid crystal compound on the alignment film and aligning the first liquid crystal composition; a liquid crystal alignment layer forming step of polymerizing the aligned first liquid crystal composition to form a liquid crystal alignment layer; a liquid crystal layer alignment step of laminating a second liquid crystal composition including a polymerizable liquid crystal compound on a surface of the liquid crystal alignment layer opposite to the alignment film and aligning the second liquid crystal composition; a liquid crystal layer forming step of polymerizing the aligned second liquid crystal composition to form a liquid crystal layer; and a liquid crystal layer separation step of separating the formed liquid crystal layer from the liquid crystal alignment layer, in which the liquid crystal layer alignment step to the liquid crystal layer separation step are repeated to repeatedly prepare the liquid crystal layer.

An object is to provide a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal layer in which an alignment film is repeatedly used and a liquid crystal compound in a liquid crystal layer can be sufficiently aligned. The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal layer includes: an alignment film forming step of forming an alignment film on a support; a liquid crystal alignment film alignment step of laminating a first liquid crystal composition including a polymerizable liquid crystal compound on the alignment film and aligning the first liquid crystal composition; a liquid crystal alignment layer forming step of polymerizing the aligned first liquid crystal composition to form a liquid crystal alignment layer; a peeling step of laminating and immobilizing a surface of the liquid crystal alignment layer opposite to the alignment film on an adherend and peeling the liquid crystal alignment layer from the alignment film at an interface between the liquid crystal alignment layer and the alignment film; a liquid crystal layer alignment step of laminating a second liquid crystal composition including a polymerizable liquid crystal compound on a surface of the liquid crystal alignment layer from which the alignment film is peeled off and aligning the second liquid crystal composition; a liquid crystal layer forming step of polymerizing the aligned second liquid crystal composition to form a liquid crystal layer; and a liquid crystal layer separation step of separating the formed liquid crystal layer from the liquid crystal alignment layer, in which the liquid crystal layer alignment step to the liquid crystal layer separation step are repeated to repeatedly prepare the liquid crystal layer.

The present invention relates to a photoalignment composition for the alignment of liquid crystals and the stabilization of the pre-tilt angle in liquid crystal layers. Further the present invention relates to the liquid crystal alignment film and coating layer prepared from the said composition and the use to fabricate optical and electrooptical elements and devices.

Provided are an optical element that can make the brightness of light emitted from a light guide plate uniform, a light guide element, and an image display device. The optical element includes a patterned cholesteric liquid crystal layer that is obtained by immobilizing a cholesteric liquid crystalline phase, in which the patterned cholesteric liquid crystal layer has a liquid crystal alignment pattern in which a direction of an optical axis derived from a liquid crystal compound changes while continuously rotating in at least one in-plane direction, and the patterned cholesteric liquid crystal layer has regions having different pitches of helical structures in a plane.