Fabrication of Surface-Stabilized Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Display with Stripe-Shaped Domain Structure

A uniform stripe-shaped domain (SSD) structure was obtained in the initial ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) alignment by rubbing the polyimide films doped with silicon naphthalocyanine. Such a surface-stabilized FLC cell exhibits a high contrast ratio and excellent bistability. Atomic force microscope images and pretilt angle measurement results demonstrated that the rubbing-induced polishing and flattening on the doped polyimide alignment films and the ordered arrangement of polymer aggregations are the main factors determining the formation of SSD structures. Using such alignment technique, a 64 80 FLC display device was assembled. The display panel shows 80 ms response time and >90% bistable memory capability. The device stability is also improved due to the existence of the SSD structure. [DOI: 10.1143/JJAP.42.1628]