A bistable liquid crystal film, comprising: a. at least one first transparent flexible film coated with conductive material; b. at least one layer of liquid crystal dispersions characterized by at least two modes (i) scattering mode-A; and (ii) transparent mode-B; allocated between said flexible transparent conductive film and at least one second transparent flexible conductive film; wherein said liquid crystal dispersion comprises metal-organic mesogens.

A bistable liquid crystal film, comprising: a. at least one first transparent flexible film coated with conductive material; b. at least one layer of liquid crystal dispersions characterized by at least two modes (i) scattering mode-A; and (ii) transparent mode-B; allocated between said flexible transparent conductive film and at least one second transparent flexible conductive film; wherein said liquid crystal dispersion comprises metal-organic mesogens.

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.

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.

Provided is a composition which can be used for formation of an optical film having high quality and a high dichroic ratio even after the composition is stored for a predetermined period of time. The composition includes a compound represented by the general formula (A) and a compound represented by the general formula (B), wherein R.sup.1a in the general formula (A) and R.sup.1b in the general formula (B) are mutually different groups.

R.sup.1a—Ar.sup.1a—N═N—Ar.sup.2a—N═N—Ar.sup.3a—R.sup.10a   (A)

R.sup.1b—Ar.sup.1b—N═N—Ar.sup.2b—N═N—Ar.sup.3b—R.sup.10a   (B)

Provided is an optical film which has a maximum absorption at a wavelength in the range of 600 to 680 nm, has a high dichroic ratio, and is excellent in light resistance. The optical film includes: a polymer of a polymerizable liquid crystal compound; and a compound represented by the following general formula (1).

##STR00001##

A composition for a polarization film including: a transparent resin having a boiling point of greater than or equal to 130° C.; and a dichroic dye represented by Chemical Formula 1, ##STR00001##

The present invention relates to benzotriazole derivatives selected from the group of compounds of formulae Ia, Ib and Ic as defined in claim 1, to mesogenic media comprising the compounds of formulae Ia, Ib and Ic, and to the use of these compounds and mesogenic media in optical, electronic and electro-optical applications, in particular in devices for regulating the passage of energy from an outside space into an inside space, for example in windows.

The present invention relates to benzotriazole derivatives selected from the group of compounds of formulae Ia, Ib and Ic as defined in claim 1, to mesogenic media comprising the compounds of formulae Ia, Ib and Ic, and to the use of these compounds and mesogenic media in optical, electronic and electro-optical applications, in particular in devices for regulating the passage of energy from an outside space into an inside space, for example in windows.

The present application relates to a liquid crystal composition, a polarizing element and a use of the polarizing element. Since the polarizing element may be prepared by a simple coating process, the guest host type liquid crystal composition of the present application allows not only for reducing the manufacturing cost and lightweight thinning of the polarizing element, but also for manufacturing the polarizing element showing an excellent heat resistant stability without changes of absorption spectrum to transmission spectrum even in a severe condition such as high temperature environment. Such a polarizing element can be applied to various display devices such as liquid crystal display devices, EL display devices, field emission display devices, display devices using electronic papers, projection display devices or piezoelectric ceramic display devices.