Surface polymer-stabilized vertically aligned liquid crystal cells with various polymer wall structures

Vertically aligned liquid crystal (LC) surrounded by polymer wall, which is also known as locked-super homeotropic (LSH) mode has several advantages such as rubbing- and spacer-free, wide-viewing angle and stable LC dynamics against external pressure. However, the LSH mode shows slow response time due to the instantaneous collision between the LC molecules when a vertical electric field is applied, because the reorientation of chiral doped vertically aligned LC is only determined by the polymer wall. We found that the slow response time can be improved by surface polymer-stabilized technique where surface pretilt angle is defined on alignment layers. This technology can be used in any shape of polymer wall. (PACS 42.79.Kr, 85.60.-q).