Control of liquid crystal pretilt angle using polyimide mixture

Abstract

A mixture of two different types ofpolyimide, one having an alkyl side chain and ordinarily used for homeotropic alignment, and the other without a side chain and ordinarily used for planar alignment, is deposited and baked at high temperatures. When the resulting cell is filled with a nematic liquid crystal, it is found that the pretilt angle is a function of the baking temperature or mixing ratio, and can be controlled continuously over the range 0 to 90.