Continuous liquid crystal pretilt control through textured substrates
- 6 December 2004
- journal article
- conference paper
- Published by AIP Publishing in Applied Physics Letters
- Vol. 85 (23) , 5556-5558
Abstract
Reliable control on the pretilt alignment of nematic liquid crystal (LC) in the 30°–50° range is a well-known challenge. An unconventional approach, involving microtextured surfaces with domains favoring dissimilar LC alignments, has recently demonstrated applicability in bi- and tristable displays. These textured domains realize the so-called frustrated boundary condition in which the LC elastic energy built-up (frustration) can drive the LC alignment into macroscopic uniformity. Here we show that one can harness the frustrated boundary to achieve variable LC pretilt control up to 40°.Keywords
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