Manufacture of a Birefringent Liquid Crystal Component

Abstract

Manufacture of a birefringent liquid crystal cell is performed as follows. A layer of isotropic material having an outer surface which is shaped with a surface relief structure and is provided with a liquid crystal alignment property is formed. A flexible sheet having an outer surface provided with a liquid crystal alignment property is formed. A curable birefringent liquid crystal material is applied to one or both of the layer of isotropic material and the flexible sheet. The flexible sheet is applied over the layer of isotropic material with the outer surfaces of the layer of isotropic material and the flexible sheet facing one another with the liquid crystal material therebetween, thereby to form a liquid crystal cell. The liquid crystal material is cured and the flexible sheet is removed from the liquid crystal cell.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.