The invention relates to a liquid crystal device comprising at least two opposing transparent substrates, at least one liquid crystal switching layer sandwiched between said opposing substrates comprising one or more polymerised photoreactive mesogens of formula I,

R.sup.11-Sp.sup.11-X.sup.11[-A-Z].sub.o-A.sup.11-CY.sup.11═CY.sup.12[—C═O].sub.x[—O].sub.y-A[-Z-A].sub.p—X.sup.21-Sp.sup.21-R.sup.21  I

wherein R.sup.11, R.sup.21, A.sup.11, A, Z, X.sup.11, X.sup.21, Y.sup.11, Y.sup.12, Sp.sup.11, Sp.sup.21, o, p, x and y have one of the meanings as given in claim 1, and one or more nematogenic compounds, an electrode structure provided on one or both of the opposing substrates, wherein one or more of said substrates are additionally provided with an optical grating or a lens structure adjacent to the LC switching layer. The invention is further related to a method of production of said liquid crystal device, to the use of said Liquid Crystal device in various types of optical and electro-optical devices, and to electro-optical devices comprising the liquid crystal device.

A liquid crystal mixture applied in light modulating devices includes at least one compound selected from the group of compounds of formula I, at least one compound selected from the group of compounds of formula II and/or formula III, and at least one chiral compound. A light modulating device includes the liquid crystal mixture, where the light modulating device has reduced haze in the transparent state while increased opacity in the light scattering state.
R.sub.1-MG.sub.1-X-MG.sub.2-R.sub.2  I ##STR00001##

To provide a liquid crystal composition having at least one or a suitable balance regarding two of characteristics such as high maximum or low minimum temperature of a nematic phase, small viscosity, suitable optical anisotropy, large dielectric anisotropy, large specific resistance, high stability to ultraviolet light or heat and a large elastic constant; and an AM device including the composition and having a short response time, a large voltage holding ratio, low threshold voltage, a large contrast ratio, a long service life and so forth. The liquid crystal composition contains a quencher as an additive component and a specific compound having large positive dielectric anisotropy as a first component, and a liquid crystal display device includes the composition. The composition may contain a specific compound having high maximum temperature or small viscosity as a second component, or a specific compound having negative dielectric anisotropy as a third component.

Provided is a polar compound having high chemical stability, high capability of aligning liquid crystal molecules, high solubility in a liquid crystal composition, and a large voltage holding ratio when used in a liquid crystal display device. The compound is represented by formula (1):

##STR00001##

in which, for example, R.sup.1 is alkyl having 1 to 15 carbons; MES is a mesogen group having at least one ring; Sp.sup.1 is a single bond or alkylene having 1 to 10 carbons; M.sup.1 and M.sup.2 are hydrogen; and R.sup.2 is a group represented by formulas (1a) to (1c):

##STR00002##

in which, Sp.sup.2 and Sp.sup.a are a single bond or alkylene having 1 to 10 carbons; S.sup.1 is >CH—; S.sup.2 is >C<; and X.sup.1 is —OH.

A polar compound has a high chemical stability, high ability to align liquid crystal molecules and high solubility in a liquid crystal composition, and causes no decrease of liquid crystallinity of the liquid crystal composition, a liquid crystal composition contains the compound, and a liquid crystal display device includes the composition. The compound is represented by formula (1), the composition contains the compound, and the liquid crystal display device uses the composition. ##STR00001## In formula (1), R.sup.1 is alkyl having 3 to 15 carbons, alkenyl having 4 to 15 carbons or the like; a is an integer from 2 to 12; and R.sup.2 is a group represented by formula (1a), formula (1b) or formula (1c). ##STR00002## In the formulas, S.sup.1 and S.sup.2 are independently a single bond, alkylene having 1 to 10 carbons; S.sup.3 is >CH— or >N—; S.sup.4 is >C< or >Si<; and X.sup.1 is —OH, —NH.sub.2 or the like.

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

Liquid-crystalline medium contains at least one compound of formula I,

##STR00001##

and at least one compound formulae ST-1 to ST-17 and the use thereof for an active-matrix display, in particular based on the VA, PSA, PA-VA, SS-VA, SA-VA, PS-VA, PALC, IPS, PS-IPS, UB-FFS, U-IPS, FFS or PS-FFS effect.

The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device that maintains a sufficient voltage holding ratio over a long period of time even when a liquid crystal panel having a narrower frame is used and that undergoes no burn-in or no stains on a display screen. The liquid crystal display device of the present invention includes an active-matrix liquid crystal panel and a backlight, wherein the liquid crystal panel includes a liquid crystal layer, a pair of substrates between which the liquid crystal layer is sandwiched, alignment layers disposed on surfaces of the pair of substrates facing the liquid crystal layer, and a seal part that bonds the pair of substrates to each other and that is disposed around the liquid crystal layer, and the liquid crystal panel is formed by a liquid crystal one-drop fill process, wherein the liquid crystal layer includes a liquid crystal material and at least one of a radical scavenger and an antioxidant, and the seal part has a width of 0.6 mm or less at least in part.

There is provided a liquid crystal composition including at least one compound represented by General Formula (i) and at least one compound represented by General Formula (N). The total amount of the compound represented by General Formula (i) is 10% by mass or greater. In the liquid crystal composition and the liquid crystal display element using the composition, the liquid crystal composition has a positive Δ∈ and a flat transmission characteristic curve. Therefore, gradation characteristics are easily controlled. Furthermore, display defects due to burn-in, dropping marks, and the like can be suppressed, and therefore excellent display quality is exhibited. The liquid crystal display element using this liquid crystal composition can be also provided.

The invention relates to a liquid crystal compound having the structure of formula I wherein R is selected from the group consisting of H and alkyl or alkoxy groups of 1 to 12 carbon atoms in which one or more H are unsubstituted or substituted with halogen; A.sub.1 is selected from the group consisting of a single bond or a 1,4-phenylene group in which each H in the 1,4-phenylene group is independently substituted by one or more halogen atoms; L.sub.1 and L.sub.2 are each independently selected from H or halogen; Z.sub.1 is a single bond or —(CH.sub.2).sub.2—. The compound has advantages of low rotational viscosity, large dielectric anisotropy, good mutual solubility and stability, which can be added to LC composition to reduce the driving voltage of the display. Thus, the novel compound has prosperous applications in LCD industry.

##STR00001##