A beam shaping system including an all-optical liquid crystal beam shaper, the beam shaper including a photoswitchable alignment material including at least one of a PESI-F, SPMA:MMA 1:5, SPMA:MMA 1:9, ora SOMA: SOMA-p:MMA 1:1:6 material, at least some of the liquid crystals of the beam shaper including at least one of a phenylcyclohexane, cyclo-cyclohexane, or a perfluorinated material.

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal alignment composition comprising first liquid crystal alignment polymer; second liquid crystal alignment polymer; and a cross-linking agent compound, a method for preparing a liquid crystal alignment film using the same, a liquid crystal alignment film and a liquid crystal display using the same.

A liquid crystal cell includes a pair of facing substrates having a photo-alignment film, and a liquid crystal layer. The liquid crystal material contains a liquid crystal compound having a structure represented by any of the following chemical formula (1-1) and chemical formula (1-2):
A.sub.1-C.sub.nF.sub.2nX.sub.1-A.sub.2(1-1)
A.sub.1-X.sub.1C.sub.nF.sub.2n+1(1-2)
in the chemical formula (1-1), A.sub.1 is a phenyl group, a phenylene group, a naphthyl group, a naphthylene group, a cyclohexyl group, or a cyclohexylene group; A.sub.2 is a phenyl group, a phenylene group, a naphthyl group, or a naphthylene group (provided that a hydrogen atom in functional groups A.sub.1 and A.sub.2 is optionally substituted by a fluoro group, a chloro group, a bromo group, a methyl group, or an ethyl group); X.sub.1 is an oxygen atom or a direct bond; and n is an integer of 1 to 6. The photo-alignment film is obtained by subjecting a polymer film to a photo-alignment treatment.

The liquid crystal display device of the disclosure has: a first substrate; a plurality of pixel electrodes formed on the first substrate; a second substrate; a counter electrode formed on the second substrate and facing the pixel electrode; a liquid crystal layer including a liquid crystal composition between the pixel electrode and the counter electrode; and an alignment control layer formed of a polymer containing an alignable monomer that is one component of the liquid crystal composition, in which the alignment control layers are each formed on a side of the first substrate and on a side of the second substrate. The alignable monomer is a polymerizable polar compound having a mesogen moiety formed of at least one ring, and a polar group.

The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device with a high degree of freedom in molecular structure design of an alignment film and with reduced image sticking. The liquid crystal display device includes a pair of substrates; a liquid crystal layer held between the substrates; an alignment film disposed on a liquid crystal layer side surface of at least one of the substrates; and a polymer layer disposed between the liquid crystal layer and the alignment film, the alignment film containing a first polymer containing at least one structure represented by the following formula (1) in a side chain, ##STR00001##
wherein R.sup.1 represents a C3-C6 branched or cyclic alkylene group, and a hydrogen atom at a para position to a carbonyl group in the phenyl group is optionally replaced.

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display (LCD) of the polymer stabilized ultra fast (PS-UF) twisted nematic (TN) mode, to an LCD obtained by this method and to an LC medium used therein.

Disclosed is a material for a vertical aligning agent, and a molecular structure of the material is shown in formula (I):
R-L1P-L2.sub.nQ(I)
wherein Q is a polar anchor group, L1 is a rigid group, P is a polymerizable group, L2 is a linking group, R is a terminal flexible group, and n is in a range from 1 to 3. In the material, the polar anchor group is connected to the polymerizable group, which is beneficial to increase an aspect ratio of the material. Therefore, a fluid viscosity of the material can be reduced, and a diffusion effect of the material on a substrate can be improved.

Soft-imprint alignment processes for patterning liquid crystal polymer layers via contact with a reusable alignment template are described herein. An example soft-imprint alignment process includes contacting a liquid crystal polymer layer with a reusable alignment template that has a desired surface alignment pattern such that the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal polymer are aligned to the surface alignment pattern via chemical, steric, or other intermolecular interaction. The patterned liquid crystal polymer layer may then be polymerized and separated from the reusable alignment template. The process can be repeated many times. The reusable alignment template may include a photo-alignment layer that does not comprise surface relief structures that correspond to the surface alignment pattern and a release layer above this photo-alignment layer. A reusable alignment template and methods of fabricating the same are also disclosed.

A composite photoalignment layer for aligning liquid crystal molecules includes: a monomeric material; a photoinitiator or a thermal initiator; and an azo dye material. A method for preparing a composite photoalignment layer for aligning liquid crystal molecules includes: mixing, in solution form, a monomeric material, a photoinitiator or a thermal initiator, and an azo dye material; coating the mixed solution onto a substrate to form a thin film; exposing the thin film to polarized light; and, with a thermal initiator, heating the thin film to polymerize the monomeric material and form a solid thin film.

There are provided a phase difference control component, which can realize a liquid crystal display device having a wide angle of visibility, has excellent phase difference symmetry and can realize optical compensation, and a process for producing the same. The phase difference control component comprises a base material; and a phase difference control layer formed of a fixed liquid crystal material provided on the base material through an aligning film and is characterized in that the angle of liquid crystal molecules, present at the interface of the aligning film and the phase difference control layer, to the base material being substantially 0 (zero) degree.