Homeotropic Alignment Properties of Liquid Crystal and Photocurable Monomer System via UV Irradiation

Abstract

We investigated the homeotropic (or vertical) liquid crystal (LC) alignment properties in a LC and photocurable monomer mixture system through UV irradiation. Different homeotropic LC alignment behaviors were observed depending on the type of photocurable monomers and UV irradiation time. The LC alignment behavior showed a good correlation with the wettability of the alignment films due to surface morphology on the alignment layer surfaces by photopolymerization-induced phase separation. The electro-optical characteristics of the LC cells fabricated with these polymer films were as good as or even better than those fabricated from rubbed polyimide (PI) films, the most commonly used LC alignment layers.