Effects of U-shaped alignment and surface-anchored polymer morphology on the electro-optical properties of in-plane-switching vertically aligned liquid crystal devices

An effective molecular alignment method and appropriate monomer material for governing the liquid crystal (LC) molecular configuration and enhancing the electro-optical performance of in-plane-switching vertically aligned LC devices are proposed. Three kinds of monomer materials are selected and separately mixed with the nematic LC. A functional and stabilized small pretilt angle of 2° is constructed in the cells by using the U-shaped-alignment electrical field and 2-wt.% mixed concentration during the photo-curing process. Compared to the pure cell, the fabricated cell with the surface-anchored cross-linking polymers respectively achieves over 30% and 60% improvement in the optical-switch and gray-level responses.