Application of an Electro Spray Deposition (ESD) Method to Control the Pre-Tilt Angle in a Nematic LC Cell

Abstract

We applied the ESD technique to form an aligned LC layer with controlled pre-tilt angle. First, a horizontally aligned film was formed on the glass substrate by coating and rubbing. Then, a material promoting vertical alignment was sprayed using the ESD method. The aligned layer consisted of very fine domains mingled with horizontally and vertically aligned part. We were able to control the pre-tilt angle in a wide range by varying the amount of sprayed solution of the aligning material.

Keywords:

• Electro-spray
• LC alignment
• pre-tilt angle

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank Merck for supplying the LC materials. We also thank Nissan Chemi. Ind. for supplying the polyimide material.