The present invention relates to novel photoaligning polymer materials, to their use as orienting layer for liquid crystals, which are used for the production of non-structured and structured optical elements, electro-optical elements, multi-layer systems or in nanoelectronics.

The invention provides a self-oriented material, a self-oriented liquid crystal material and a manufacturing method of the liquid crystal panel. The self-oriented material provided by the invention can be used for carrying out alignment on liquid crystal molecules, and a polyimide alignment layer is not required to he arranged in the liquid crystal panel when the self-oriented material is added into the liquid crystal material. The self-oriented liquid crystal material disclosed by the invention contains the self-oriented material, the self-oriented material can be used for carrying out alignment on liquid crystal molecules, therefore a polyimide alignment layer is not required to be arranged in the liquid crystal panel. According to the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal panel, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules is realized by utilizing the self-oriented material in the self-oriented liquid crystal material, and the polyimide alignment layer does not need to be manufactured, so that the process for manufacturing the polyimide alignment layer is saved, and the production cost is reduced.

The problem that the present invention is to solve is to provide an optical film that has less alignment defects and is less liable to cause variation in the optical characteristics when placed in a high temperature state. The present invention provides an optical film containing a structural unit derived from a specific compound, that is, an optical film containing a structural unit derived from a compound represented by the general formula (I), which has less alignment defects and is less liable to cause variation in the optical characteristics when placed in a high temperature state, and also provides a display device including the optical film.

The present invention has an object to provide a polymerizable liquid crystal compound used for formation of an optically anisotropic film having excellent reciprocal wavelength dispersion, a polymerizable liquid crystal composition, an optically anisotropic film, an optical film, a polarizing plate, and an image display device. The polymerizable liquid crystal compound of an embodiment of the present invention is a polymerizable liquid crystal compound represented by Formula (1), in which a Clog P value of a group represented by Ar in Formula (1) is 3.5 or less.

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The present invention has an object to provide a polymerizable liquid crystal compound used for formation of an optically anisotropic film having excellent reciprocal wavelength dispersion and moisture-heat resistance, a polymerizable liquid crystal composition, an optically anisotropic film, an optical film, a polarizing plate, and an image display device. The polymerizable liquid crystal compound of the present invention is a polymerizable liquid crystal compound represented by Formula (1), in which a Clog P value of a group represented by Ar in Formula (1) is 4.3 or more and less than 7.0.

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A flexible liquid crystal optical shutter and a manufacturing method thereof are disclosed. A box body filled with a liquid crystal mixture is irradiated with ultraviolet light to form supporting column structures, which increases the bending resistance of the flexible liquid crystal optical shutter, and may improve the mechanical stability of the liquid crystal optical shutter while maintaining the haze of the flexible liquid crystal optical shutter. The manufacturing method is simple. After the manufactured flexible liquid crystal optical shutter is connected to a power supply, the brightness of the liquid crystal optical shutter may be adjusted by changing the magnitude of voltage applied, so that the liquid crystal optical shutter may replace curtains to some extent, solves some limitations of coated glass, and has a good application prospect in vehicle-mounted household glass windows and the like.

Self-aligned liquid crystal materials and structures are disclosed. The structures can exhibit piezoelectric and flexoelectric properties.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition capable of forming a reflective layer having excellent diffuse reflectivity. A second object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a reflective layer having excellent diffuse reflectivity and a reflective layer having excellent diffuse reflectivity. A third object of the present invention is to provide a cured product and an optically anisotropic body, each of which is formed of the liquid crystal composition.

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal composition including a liquid crystal compound; a chiral agent A whose helical twisting power is reduced upon light irradiation; and a chiral agent B which induces a helix in a direction opposite to that of the chiral agent A, in which the liquid crystal compound is cholesterically aligned in the direction of the helix induced by the chiral agent B in a case where the liquid crystal compound is aligned into a cholesteric liquid crystalline phase state.

An object of the present invention is to provide a polymerizable liquid crystal composition which has excellent coating properties, is capable of suppressing film thickness unevenness, and has good coating properties for an upper layer coating liquid after being formed as an optically anisotropic layer, an anisotropic layer formed using the same; an optical laminate; a method for producing an optical laminate, and an image display device. The polymerizable liquid crystal composition of the embodiment of the present invention is a polymerizable liquid crystal composition containing a polymerizable liquid crystal compound, a polymerization initiator, and a compound having a monovalent specific group including a cleavage group capable of decomposing by an action of at least one selected from the group consisting of light, heat, an acid, and a base to generate a polar group, in which the specific group has a fluorine atom or a silicon atom on a side closer to a terminal than the cleavage group.

An object of the present invention is to provide a phase difference plate for an organic EL display device having excellent light resistance, an organic EL display device, and a method for producing a phase difference plate. The phase difference plate for an organic EL display device of an embodiment of the present invention has a phase difference layer formed from a composition containing a polymer having a repeating unit A including a photo-alignment group and a polymerizable liquid crystal compound having reciprocal wavelength dispersion, in which the photo-alignment group includes a double bond structure of CC or CN.