A liquid crystal device and a method of forming a liquid crystal device are disclosed. The device comprises a layer of liquid crystal material bounded by a first cell wall and a second cell wall, the first cell wall being provided with a first electrode structure and the second cell wall being provided with a second electrode structure. The first cell wall and the second cell wall are separated by a distance d.sub.c, wherein the layer of liquid crystal material is associated with a plurality of defect generation sites. Defects are generated by the defect generation sites, increasing switching speed and decreasing the time it takes to switch large area displays employing such devices.

The present invention provides a polymerizable liquid crystal composition containing at least one polymerizable liquid crystal compound (I) having one polymerizable functional group in its molecule, at least one polymerizable liquid crystal compound (II) having two polymerizable functional groups in its molecule, and at least one compound (III) having tree or more aromatic rings at least one of which is substituted by an alkyl group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms or an alkoxy group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms. Also, the present invention provides an optically anisotropic body using the polymerizable liquid crystal composition of the present invention.

A non-invasive temperature verification system used in a TLD system, which comprises at least one thermal sensor, which is placed near each of TLD element, measuring its temperature during heating cycle. The signal data from each thermal sensor is converted to time temperature profile which is used to verify and calibrate the TLD system.

A bistable liquid crystal film, comprising: a first transparent flexible film coated with conductive material; a second transparent flexible film; at least one layer of liquid crystal dispersions disposed between the transparent flexible conductive films; and an ionic dopant disposed within the layer of liquid crystal dispersions. The bistable liquid crystal film is characterized as having two modes, a transparent mode and a scattering mode, with transitions between the two modes being accomplished by voltage pulses with no need to maintain a voltage across the film in order to maintain it in a particular mode. The ionic dopant is an ionic mesogen, preferably an ionic metal-organic mesogen.

A bistable liquid crystal film, comprising: a first transparent flexible film coated with conductive material; a second transparent flexible film; at least one layer of liquid crystal dispersions disposed between the transparent flexible conductive films; and an ionic dopant disposed within the layer of liquid crystal dispersions. The bistable liquid crystal film is characterized as having two modes, a transparent mode and a scattering mode, with transitions between the two modes being accomplished by voltage pulses with no need to maintain a voltage across the film in order to maintain it in a particular mode. The ionic dopant is an ionic mesogen, preferably an ionic metal-organic mesogen.

A liquid crystal composition contains liquid crystals containing one kind of or two or more kinds of silicone surfactants, a phenyl-modified silicone oil and water. The liquid crystal composition of the present invention contains 5 to 95% by weight in total of one kind of or two or more kinds of silicone surfactants, 0.1 to 90% by weight of a phenyl-modified silicone oil and 0.1 to 90% by weight of water. The liquid crystal composition of the present invention can solubilize hydrophobic compounds having poor solubility (for example, hydrocarbon oils such as squalane, fatty acids such as oleic acid and lipoic acid and ester oils such as cetyl isooctanoate) and is thus useful, for example, as toiletry materials and cosmetic materials.

An object of the present invention is to provide a phase difference film having excellent alignment without the need for alignment treatment on a support, a method for manufacturing a phase difference film, a polarizing plate, and a liquid crystal display device. The phase difference film of the present invention includes a support, and a liquid crystal layer formed of a liquid crystal composition containing a liquid crystalline compound so as to be in contact with the support, in which a surface energy of a surface of the support on which the liquid crystal layer is formed is 45 mN/m or more and a non-polar dispersion force component included in the surface energy is 45 mN/m or more, the liquid crystalline compound is immobilized in an aligned state, and a contrast is more than 10000.

A compound of Formula (I)
D-S.sup.1-A-S.sup.2—B.sup.1,  Formula (I) wherein: A represents a conjugated chain of from 1 to 20 aromatic moieties independently selected from the group consisting of aromatic moieties, heteroaromatic moieties and E moieties, provided that A includes at least one E moiety, wherein E is selected from the group consisting of: E.sup.1 being a dibenzo[d,b]silole moiety of the structure: ##STR00001## E.sup.2 being a moiety of the structure: ##STR00002## and E.sup.3 being a moiety of the structure: ##STR00003## wherein E is connected in the conjugated chain of A and optionally to S.sup.1 or to S.sup.2 through covalent bonds at Y and Z; wherein each R is independently selected from the group consisting of straight chain or branched C.sub.1-C.sub.20 alkyl and C.sub.2-C.sub.20 alkenyl, optionally wherein from 1 to 5 CH.sub.2 groups are each replaced by an oxygen, provided that no acetal, ketal, peroxide or vinyl ether is present in the R group, and optionally wherein each H bonded to a C in each R group may independently be replaced by a halogen; wherein the X moieties are the same and are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, straight chain or branched C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkyl, straight chain or branched C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkoxyl and a halogen, wherein each E moiety may have the same or different X moieties, wherein W is either an oxygen or sulfur atom, D represents a moiety having one or more cross-linkable functionalities, S.sup.1 and S.sup.2 are flexible linker groups; and B.sup.1 represents a moiety having one or more cross-linkable functionalities or a hydrogen atom, with the proviso that when B.sup.1 represents a hydrogen atom, D represents a moiety having at least two cross-linkable functionalities.

The present invention relates to a polymerizable mixture which can be used to form a dielectric material for the preparation of passivation layers in electronic devices. The polymerizable mixture comprises a first monomer and a second monomer which may react to form a copolymer providing excellent film forming capability, excellent thermal properties and excellent mechanical properties. There is further provided a method for forming said copolymers and an electronic device containing said copolymers as dielectric material. Beyond that, the present invention relates to a manufacturing method for preparing a packaged microelectronic structure and to a microelectronic device comprising said packaged microelectronic structure formed by said manufacturing method.

A liquid crystal mixture and a temperature-responsive infrared reflection device made by using the liquid crystal mixture containing potassium laurate. Infrared light can pass through the device within a non-working temperature range, and a chiral dopant enables potassium laurate to form a cholesteric phase within a working temperature range. The birefringence value of the potassium laurate gradually increases with the increase of temperature between 12.5° C. and 26° C., so that the infrared reflection bandwidth of the device constantly increases. The birefringence value of the potassium laurate gradually decreases with the increase of temperature between 26° C. and 54.5° C., so that the infrared reflection bandwidth of the device constantly decreases. The infrared reflection bandwidth of the infrared reflection device can vary with temperature by adjusting the proportions of the ingredients of the liquid crystal mixture containing potassium laurate.