Provided is an optically anisotropic layer with which an image display device having suppressed occurrence of oblique light leakage can be manufactured; and an optical film, a polarizing plate, and an image display device, each having the optically anisotropic layer. The optically anisotropic layer is obtained by curing a polymerizable liquid crystal composition including a predetermined rod-like liquid crystal compound and a predetermined monofunctional compound, and immobilizing an alignment state of the rod-like liquid crystal compound, in which a number a1 of atoms of the rod-like liquid crystal compound and a number a2 of atoms of the monofunctional compound satisfy a relationship of Expression (1): 0.2<a2/a1≤0.68, and the rod-like liquid crystal compound is immobilized in a state of being vertically aligned with respect to the main surface of the optically anisotropic layer.

[Object] An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition containing a polymerizable compound for use in the manufacture of a PSA or PSVA liquid crystal display device. The polymerizable compound has a sufficiently high polymerization rate. The PSA or PSVA liquid crystal display device has few or no display defects due to a change in pretilt angle, has an adequate pretilt angle, and has high responsiveness. The present invention also provides a liquid crystal display device having the liquid crystal composition. [Solution] The object is achieved by using a liquid crystal composition containing one or two or more polymerizable compounds represented by the general formula (I).

[Object] An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition containing a polymerizable compound for use in the manufacture of a PSA or PSVA liquid crystal display device. The polymerizable compound has a sufficiently high polymerization rate. The PSA or PSVA liquid crystal display device has few or no display defects due to a change in pretilt angle, has an adequate pretilt angle, and has high responsiveness. The present invention also provides a liquid crystal display device having the liquid crystal composition. [Solution] The object is achieved by using a liquid crystal composition containing one or two or more polymerizable compounds represented by the general formula (I).

The invention relates to a light modulation element comprising a cholesteric liquid crystalline medium sandwiched between two substrates (1), provided with a common electrode structure (2) and a driving electrode structure (3) individually, wherein the substrate with driving and/or common electrode structure is additionally provided with an alignment electrode structure (4) which is separated from the driving and or common electrode structure on the same substrate by a dielectric layer (5), characterized in that it comprises at least one alignment layer (6) directly adjacent to the liquid crystalline medium. The invention is further related to a method of production of said light modulation element and to the use of said light modulation element in various types of optical and electro-optical devices, such as electro-optical displays, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), non-linear optic (NLO) devices, and optical information storage devices.

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

A liquid crystal composition for a display device, the composition includes compounds of Chemical Formulae 1-7 with the amounts and compounds defined herein.

Disclosed are a liquid crystal (LC) composition and a high-frequency component including the same. The LC composition includes one or more selected from compounds shown in structural formula (I) and one or more selected from compounds shown in structural formula (II):

##STR00001## where R.sub.1 is selected from alkyl with 1 to 10 carbon atoms, alkenyl with 2 to 10 carbon atoms, fluorinated alkyl, fluorinated alkenyl, and cycloalkyl; one of X.sub.1, X.sub.2, and X.sub.3 is methyl or chlorine, and the other two are hydrogen; k, m, n, and p are 0 or 1; and ring A is selected from a benzene ring, cyclohexane, and cyclohexene;

##STR00002##

where R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 each are selected from alkyl with 1 to 10 carbon atoms, alkenyl with 2 to 10 carbon atoms, fluorinated alkyl, fluorinated alkenyl, cycloalkyl, halogen, and NCS; and ring A and ring B each are selected from a benzene ring, cyclohexane, and cyclohexene.

The present invention relates to a liquid-crystal medium which comprises one or more compounds each of formulae I and II ##STR00001##
in which the occurring groups and parameters have the meanings given in claim 1.

A photoreactive liquid crystal composition containing (A) a photoreactive polymer liquid crystal which includes a photoreactive side chain in which at least one type of reaction selected from (A-1) photocrosslinking and (A-2) photoisomerization occurs, and (B) a low molecular weight liquid crystal. An optical element or display element is formed having a liquid crystal cell including the photoreactive liquid crystal composition.

The present invention relates to azo dye of formula I ##STR00001##
defined in claim 1, to a liquid crystalline medium comprising said azo dye, the use of said medium for optical, electrooptical and electronic purposes, in particular in devices for regulating the passage of energy from an outside space into an inside space, for example in windows. The invention further relates to a device containing the liquid crystalline medium according to the invention.