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 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.

To prevent arcing discharge of a liquid crystal device. Provided is a liquid crystal device including a liquid crystal layer, a first substrate, a second substrate and an insulating film, wherein the liquid crystal layer is arranged between the first substrate and the second substrate, the first substrate includes electrode 1, the second substrate includes electrode 2, the insulating film is arranged between electrode 1 and electrode 2, and the insulating film is a cured product of a thermosetting polymer composition.

The present invention relates to liquid crystal (LC) media comprising one or more polymerisable compounds as further specified in the description or claims and a self-alignment additive for vertical alignment. The media are adapted for use in LC displays, especially in LC displays of the polymer-sustained alignment type.

A liquid-crystalline medium which comprises at least one compound selected from the group of compounds of the formulae IA to IH,

##STR00001##

in which Z.sup.1 denotes a single bond, —CH.sub.2CH.sub.2—, —CH═CH—, —CH.sub.2O—, —OCH.sub.2—, —CF.sub.2O—, —OCF.sub.2—, —COO—, —OCO—, —C.sub.2F.sub.4—, —(CH.sub.2).sub.4—, —CHFCHF—, —CF.sub.2CH.sub.2—, —CH.sub.2CF.sub.2—, —C≡C—, —CF═CF—, —CH═CHCHO— or —CH.sub.2CF.sub.2O—,
and the use thereof for an active-matrix display, in particular based on the VA, PSA, PS-VA, PALC, FFS, PS-FFS, SA-VA, PS-IPS or IPS effect.

An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition suitable for producing liquid crystal display elements which reduces the risk of the formation of droplet traces during production and allows a liquid crystal material to be ejected at a constant rate during an ODF process without deteriorating the properties of the liquid crystal display element, such as dielectric anisotropy, viscosity, nematic-phase upper-limit temperature, nematic-phase stability at a low temperature, and γ.sub.1, and the image sticking resistance of the display element, and a liquid crystal display element including the liquid crystal composition. Provided are a liquid crystal composition having a negative dielectric anisotropy, the liquid crystal composition including one or more compounds represented by General Formula (I), one or more compounds represented by General Formula (II), and the compound represented by Formula (IIIb-1) and a liquid crystal display element including the liquid crystal composition.

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.

There is provided a liquid crystal composition which enables a significant reduction in crystallization temperature as compared with addition of a homolog while having a similar skeleton structure, which has an excellent compatibility, and which enables an increase in the absolute value of negative dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈). The liquid crystal composition contains two or more compounds which each have two to four ring structures between two side chains. At least one of the ring structures is a 2,3-difluorobenzene skeleton. The two side chains are bonded to different ring structures. The positions of the 2,3-difluorobenzene skeletons are different from each other, and the number of the ring structures are the same as each other.

A liquid-crystalline medium having a nematic phase, a dielectric anisotropy of 0.5 or more and a ratio of the dielectric constant perpendicular to the director (∈.sub.⊥) to the dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈), i.e. (∈.sub.⊥/Δ∈), of 2.0 or less and comprises one or more compounds of formula I

##STR00001##

wherein the parameters have the meaning given in the text.

An electro-optical display containing such a medium, particularly in an active-matrix display based on the IPS or FFS effect. Methods for using of the compounds of formula I for improvement of the transmission and/or response times of a liquid-crystalline medium which comprises one or more additional mesogenic compounds.

Provided is a laminate, which has a polarizer and an optically anisotropic layer and is excellent in thermal durability, and an organic electroluminescent device and a liquid crystal display device, which include the laminate. The laminate has two substrates and a polarizing plate disposed between the two substrates, in which the polarizing plate has a polarizer and an optically anisotropic layer, the polarizer contains a polyvinyl alcohol-based resin, the optically anisotropic layer is formed of a composition containing a polymerizable liquid crystal compound represented by General Formula (I): L.sub.1-G.sub.1-D.sub.1-Ar-D.sub.2-G.sub.2-L.sub.2, a moisture permeability of the substrate is 10.sup.−3 g/m.sup.2.Math.day or less, and a water content of the polarizing plate is 3.0 g/m.sup.2 or less.