A liquid crystal composition including: a polymerizable liquid crystal compound capable of expressing birefringence with inverse wavelength dispersion; a surfactant containing a fluorine atom; and a solvent, wherein the surfactant contains a fluorine atom at a ratio of 30% by weight or less in a molecule of the surfactant.

To suppress a phenomenon where an optical axis of the optically anisotropic layer is tilted when the optically anisotropic layer is produced by using a liquid crystalline compound showing smectic phase as a materials showing a higher level of orderliness. An optically anisotropic layer wherein a polymerizable composition, containing one or more polymerizable rod-like liquid crystal compound showing a smectic phase, is fixed in a state of smectic phase, and a direction of maximum refractive index of the optically anisotropic layer is inclined at 10 or smaller to the surface of the optically anisotropic layer, a method for manufacturing the same, a laminate and a method for manufacturing the same, a polarizing plate, a liquid crystal display device, and an organic EL display device.

There are provided a liquid crystal composition containing one or two or more compounds represented by general formula (L) and three or four or more dichroic dyes selected from azo compounds, and a guest-host liquid crystal display device or light-controlling device that uses the liquid crystal composition. The liquid crystal composition according to the present invention contains dichroic dyes that satisfy high contrast, high solubility, high nematic-isotropic transition temperature (T.sub.NI), and low birefringent anisotropy (n) effective for high light resistance and high thermal resistance at the same time. The use of the liquid crystal composition according to the present invention provides a liquid crystal display device or a light-controlling device that exhibits a good-looking black color and has high contrast, high display quality, and high practicality.

The liquid crystal display device includes a pair of substrates consisting of first and second substrates arranged to face each other, a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the first and second substrates, a pixel electrode disposed on at least one of the first and second substrates, a common electrode disposed on at least one of the first and second substrates, a light source section including a light-emitting element, and a photoconversion layer including pixels of three primary colors consisting of red (R), green (G), and blue (B). The photoconversion layer contains a light-emitting nanocrystal having an emission spectrum of any of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) upon receiving light emitted from the light source section on at least one of the three primary colors. The liquid crystal layer contains a liquid crystal composition containing a compound represented by General Formula (i) at 10% to 50% by mass.

A reactive perpendicular aligned organosilicon material is provided, having a general structural formula in the form of A-R, where A is SiCl.sub.3 and R represents a linear chained or a branched chained alkyl group with 5-20 carbon atoms. A CH.sub.2 group in the alkyl group is substituted by a phenyl group, a naphthenic base, CONH, COO, OCO, S, CO, or CHCH, or an F atom or a Cl atom substitutes an H atom in the alkyl group. A Cl atom in the reactive perpendicular aligned organosilicon material and OH on a surface of a substrate having no PI thereon form a hydrogen bond, leading to vertical arrangement of liquid crystal molecules between two opposite substrates.

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal polyester powder comprising a liquid crystal polyester, wherein, when a particle diameter at which a cumulative volume proportion from a small particle side in a volume-based cumulative particle diameter distribution curve by laser diffraction/scattering type particle diameter distribution measurement is 90% is defined as D.sub.90, D.sub.90 is 20 ?m or less.

A liquid-crystalline medium which comprises at least one compound selected from the group of compounds of the formulae IA to IH, ##STR00001##
in which Z.sup.1 denotes a single bond, CH.sub.2CH.sub.2, CH?CH, CH.sub.2O, OCH.sub.2, CF.sub.2O, OCF.sub.2, COO, OCO, C.sub.2F.sub.4, (CH.sub.2).sub.4, CHFCHF, CF.sub.2CH.sub.2, CH.sub.2CF.sub.2, C?C, CF?CF, CH?CHCHO or CH.sub.2CF.sub.2O,
and the use thereof for an active-matrix display, in particular based on the VA, PSA, PS-VA, PALC, FFS, PS-FFS, SA-VA, PS-IPS or IPS effect.

A liquid-crystalline medium which comprises at least one compound selected from the group of compounds of the formulae IA to IH, ##STR00001##
in which Z.sup.1 denotes a single bond, CH.sub.2CH.sub.2, CH?CH, CH.sub.2O, OCH.sub.2, CF.sub.2O, OCF.sub.2, COO, OCO, C.sub.2F.sub.4, (CH.sub.2).sub.4, CHFCHF, CF.sub.2CH.sub.2, CH.sub.2CF.sub.2, C?C, CF?CF, CH?CHCHO or CH.sub.2CF.sub.2O,
and the use thereof for an active-matrix display, in particular based on the VA, PSA, PS-VA, PALC, FFS, PS-FFS, SA-VA, PS-IPS or IPS effect.

Disclosed herein is a liquid crystal mixture applied in light modulating devices, comprising: component A comprised of one or more compounds selected from the group of compounds of formula (I), component B comprised of one or more compounds selected from the group of compounds of formula (II), and component C comprised of one or more chiral compounds. Also disclosed is a light modulating device containing the liquid crystal mixture, wherein the liquid crystal mixture has higher stability of electrical performance and the light modulating device has improved optical performance. ##STR00001##

The present invention pertains to: a liquid crystal composition for controlling light that contains, as a dichroic dye, an anthraquinone compound having a specific structure; and a light-controlling element that contains a cured product of said liquid crystal composition for controlling light and exhibits excellent contrast, light-blocking performance, lightfastness, and heat tolerance during current supply. More specifically, the present invention pertains to: a liquid crystal composition for controlling light that contains a compound represented by formula (A) (in the formula. R1 represents a C1-12 alkyl group or a C1-12 alkoxy group, and each R2 independently represents a C1-8 alkyl group), a liquid crystal material, a photocurable compound, and a photoinitiator; and a light-controlling element that is formed by sandwiching a photocured product of said composition between a pair of substrates.

##STR00001##