Controlling the alignment of liquid crystals by nanoparticle-doped and UV-treated polyimide alignment films

Abstract

We have developed two approaches for controlling the pretilt angles of liquid crystal molecules by using conventional polyimide (PI) alignment materials either doping homogeneous PIs with Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsequioxanes (POSS) nanoparticles or treating homeotropic PIs with ultraviolet light. These techniques are very simple and are compatible with current methods familiar in the LCD industry. The characteristics of modified PI alignment films and their applications for photonic devices are demonstrated in this paper.