A liquid crystal medium containing a compound of formula I ##STR00001## and one or more compounds of the formulae IIA, IIB, IIC and IID, ##STR00002## useable in optical, electro-optical and electronic purposes, in particular in LC displays.

The present invention is a liquid crystal composition having negative dielectric anisotropy containing one or two or more of compounds represented by General Formula (i), and is also a liquid crystal display element using the liquid crystal composition. The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition with a large refractive index anisotropy (n), a low rotational viscosity (.sub.1), a large elastic constant (K.sub.33), a high voltage holding ratio (VHR), and which has a negative dielectric anisotropy (), and a liquid crystal display element which, when using the liquid crystal composition, has a high response speed with excellent display quality in which display defects such as drop marks, burn-in, and display unevenness are absent or suppressed.

The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device which includes a reflective electrode, which achieves its low-voltage driving, and which suppresses flickering caused during its driving and image sticking caused by its long-term driving. The liquid crystal display device of the present invention includes: a first substrate provided with a reflective electrode configured to reflect ambient light; a second substrate facing the first substrate; a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the first substrate and the second substrate and containing a liquid crystal material that contains a liquid crystal compound containing an alkoxy group and has negative anisotropy of dielectric constant; an alignment film provided on at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate on a side facing the liquid crystal layer; and an aromatic polymer that is present between the liquid crystal layer and the alignment film and/or within the alignment film and has a specific structure.

A liquid crystal composition satisfying at least one of characteristics such as high maximum temperature, low minimum temperature, small viscosity, suitable optical anisotropy and large dielectric anisotropy, or having a suitable balance regarding at least two of the characteristics. The liquid crystal composition contains a quencher as a first additive, and may contain a specific compound having large negative dielectric anisotropy as a first component, a specific compound having high maximum temperature or small viscosity as a second component, or a specific compound having a polymerizable group as a second additive.

The present invention relates to a temperature-controlled dimming film with a function of shielding near-infrared light, which comprises a polymer network skeleton and liquid crystal molecules, wherein the polymer network skeleton consists of a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal network structure and a polymer-stabilized liquid crystal network structure and comprises a polymer matrix with pores inside which polymer networks are vertically aligned; and the liquid crystal molecules are dispersed in the polymer network skeleton and have smectic (SmA)-cholesteric (N*) phase transition. Between the skeleton and the liquid crystal molecules, nanoparticles, having absorption at 800-3000 nm, are dispersed. In the invention, a stepwise polymerization method is utilized to construct a PD&SLC network structure between two substrates, which greatly improve the bonding strength between the two substrates and the heat insulation performance of the temperature-controlled liquid crystal dimming film.

Display device and fabrication method thereof are provided. A display includes a polymer liquid crystal cell, including a first electrode layer, a second electrode layer, and a light-scattering adjustment layer between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer; and a light source, arranged on a first side of the polymer liquid crystal cell and configured to emit light into the light-scattering adjustment layer. The first electrode layer includes at least one first electrode. The second electrode layer includes at least one second electrode. The display region of the polymer liquid crystal cell includes a plurality of regions having a light-scattering ability increase along a direction away from the light source.

The present invention relates to polymerizable compounds, to processes and intermediates for the preparation thereof, and to the use thereof for optical, electro-optical and electronic purposes, in particular in liquid-crystal (LC) media and LC displays, especially in LC displays of the PS (polymer sustained) or PSA (polymer sustained alignment) type.

It is an object of this invention to provide a retardation film which uses a liquid crystal compound, has a suppressed streak defect and shows a good front contrast, and an application thereof. The present invention provides a retardation film in which a liquid crystal compound capable of showing a smectic phase is fixed in the smectic phase, the retardation film including a non-liquid crystal compound which satisfies the conditions A and B: condition A: molecular weight is 10000 or less; and condition B: T0T130 C. T0 represents the phase transition temperature between the nematic phase and the isotropic phase of a composition which does not contain the non-liquid crystal compound, and T1 represents the phase transition temperature between the nematic phase and the isotropic phase of a composition which contains the non-liquid crystal compound.

The present invention provides a method for producing a substrate provided with an alignment film whose refractive index anisotropy is less likely to change and can be maintained at a high level even during long-term use. The method for producing a substrate provided with an alignment film includes: a film coating step in which an alignment film composition is applied to a surface of a substrate to form a film, the alignment film composition containing a first polymer that contains an azobenzene group in a main chain thereof; and a heating and exposure step in which the film is irradiated with light while the substrate is heated at 60 C. to 80 C. The light applied in the heating and exposure step is preferably within a wavelength range of 320 to 500 nm.

The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device that includes a retardation layer with excellent thermal stability and suppresses a decrease in contrast ratio caused by scattering even when the retardation layer has been formed by polymerizing reactive monomers. The liquid crystal display device includes a pair of substrates and a liquid crystal layer held between the substrates. At least one of the substrates includes a retardation layer that contains a polymer of at least one type of monomer. The at least one type of monomer includes a photo-alignment monomer represented by a certain formula.