The present invention aims to provide a liquid crystal display device in which image sticking and stains are sufficiently reduced. The present invention relates to an alignment film including: a polymer, wherein the polymer is a polysiloxane or a polyvinyl and contains a silsesquioxane group. The present invention also relates to a polymer for use in the alignment film, the polymer containing a silsesquioxane group. The present invention also relates to a liquid crystal display device including: the alignment film; a pair of substrates; and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the substrates, wherein the alignment film is disposed between at least one of the substrates and the liquid crystal layer.

The present invention provides a method for producing a polymerizable liquid crystal composition which produces films being uncolored and having no cissing and good alignment when applied to a substrate, and also provides a polymerizable liquid crystal composition produced by the method and an optically anisotropic body using the polymerizable liquid crystal composition. Specifically, the present invention provides a method for producing a polymerizable liquid crystal composition, the method comprising a step (I) of preparing a polymerizable solution by mixing at least one polymerizable compound having at least one polymerizable functional group and one or two or more organic solvents and heating and stirring the resultant mixture; and a step (II) of mixing the polymerizable solution with a polymerization initiator, and also provides a polymerizable liquid crystal composition produced by the method and an optically anisotropic body using the polymerizable liquid crystal composition.

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical film having an optically anisotropic layer having excellent durability, and a polarizing plate and an image display device using the same. This optical film of the present invention is an optical film at least having an optically anisotropic layer, in which the optically anisotropic layer is a layer obtained by polymerizing a polymerizable liquid crystal composition containing a predetermined liquid crystal compound, a predetermined mesogen compound, and a polymerization initiator, an I/O value of the liquid crystal compound is more than 0.56, and an I/O value of the mesogen compound is 0.56 or less.

The invention relates to bimesogenic compounds of formula I

##STR00001##

wherein R.sup.11, R.sup.12, MG.sup.11, MG.sup.12, X.sup.11, X.sup.12 and Sp.sup.1 have the meaning given in claim 1, to the use of bimesogenic compounds of formula I in liquid crystal media and particular to flexoelectric liquid crystal devices comprising a liquid crystal medium according to the present invention.

The invention relates to cinnamic acid derivatives of formula S

##STR00001##

wherein the radicals have the meaning indicated in claim 1,
to a process for their preparation and their use as self assembling photoalignment agent in liquid crystal mixtures. The invention further relates to a process for the fabrication of a liquid crystal (LC) display device with homogeneous alignment by photoaligning a liquid crystal mixture with positive or negative dielectric anisotropy comprising one or more compounds of formula S and optionally a polymerisable compound, to the liquid crystal mixture comprising the self assembling photoaligning agent and optionally the polymerisable compound and to the LC display produced by said process.

The invention relates to new compositions comprising a photo-alignable material comprising or deriving from a monomer of formula (I) and an additive selected from the group consisting of acid generators, base generators, acids or bases.

##STR00001##

A liquid crystal display device with few drop marks left during manufacture is provided without degrading the image-sticking characteristics of the liquid crystal display device or other characteristics fundamental to liquid crystal display devices, such as dielectric anisotropy, viscosity, upper nematic phase temperature limit, and rotational viscosity (.sub.1), and a method for manufacturing such a liquid crystal display device is also provided. A liquid crystal display device 10 according to the present invention includes a first substrate 11, a second substrate 12, a liquid crystal composition layer 13 disposed therebetween, and vertical alignment layers 16 and 17 containing a polymer of a monofunctional reactive-group-containing polymerizable compound and a polyfunctional reactive-group-containing polymerizable compound.

The liquid crystal display element includes: two transparent substrates, at least one of the two transparent substrates having an electrode; a liquid crystal composition sandwiched between the two transparent substrates and containing one or two or more liquid crystal compounds; and a copolymer included in the liquid crystal composition, the copolymer being a cured product of a polymerizable composition that contains two or more polymerizable compounds. The polymerizable compounds used include one or two or more polymerizable, photo-alignable compounds (Vn), and the content of the polymerizable composition is 1% by mass or more and less than 40% by mass based on the total weight of the polymerizable composition and the liquid crystal composition. The liquid crystal display element of the present invention is applicable to various operational modes such as TN, STN, ECB, VA, VA-TN, IPS, FFS, cell, OCB, and cholesteric liquid crystal modes.

The liquid crystal display element includes: two transparent substrates; a liquid crystal composition sandwiched between the two transparent substrates and containing one or two or more liquid crystal compounds; and a polymer or copolymer that is included in the liquid crystal composition, the polymer or copolymer being a cured product of a polymerizable composition that contains one or two or more polymerizable compounds and a photopolymerization initiator having a maximum absorption wavelength peak at 310 nm to 380 nm. The content of the polymerizable composition is 1% by mass or more and less than 40% by mass based on the total weight of the polymerizable composition and the liquid crystal composition.

There is provided a liquid crystal composition having a dielectric anisotropy () large in absolute value, a sufficiently low viscosity (), a sufficiently low rotational viscosity (.sub.1), and a high elastic constant (K.sub.33) without decreased refractive index anisotropy (n) or nematic phase-isotropic liquid phase transition temperature (T.sub.ni). A liquid crystal display device, such as a VA mode liquid crystal display device, including the liquid crystal composition has high response speed and good display quality with few or no display defects. The liquid crystal display device including the liquid crystal composition is useful as an active-matrix liquid crystal display device and is applicable as a liquid crystal display device such as a VA mode or PSVA mode liquid crystal display device.