Trapping of defect point to improve response time via controlled azimuthal anchoring in a vertically aligned liquid crystal cell with polymer wall

Conventional multi-domain vertically aligned liquid crystal (LC) cells have defect points due to the collision of LC directors during the formation of multiple domains. In addition, the location of defects changes with time resulting in a slow response time. This paper proposes a robust vertically aligned LC cell, where the LCs are locked by polymer walls, and the azimuthal anchoring on the surface of the alignment layer is controlled by the polymerization of a UV curable reactive mesogen monomer. As a result, the defect points are trapped at a single position, resulting in a greatly improved response time.