Optimization of electrode structure to control liquid crystal director nearby domain boundary in a Z-shape patterned vertical alignment mode

Various pixel structures have been proposed in the patterned vertical alignment (PVA) mode to improve transmittance and response time because collisions of the liquid crystal directors are inevitable near domain boundary region. One of them is well known as Z-shape structure, which shows multi-domain characteristic but low transmittance due to forming disclination lines at the domain boundary. This characteristic comes from the LC director that cannot tilt down to 45° with respect to the transmissive axis of crossed polarizers. In order to overcome this problem, we proposed a new pixel structure which improves transmittance while keeping the number of masks same as before. Consequently, the proposed structure improved transmittance up to 18% compared with conventional Z-shape structure.