Liquid crystal display device with patterned layer having fixed cholesteric order and method of manufacturing the same
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
InventorsPeter Van De Witte, Michael Geoffrey Pitt
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Abstract
In a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device including a layer having a fixed cholesteric order, the patterned layer is manufactured by providing a layer comprising polymerizable cholesterically ordered material and a compound convertible by means of radiation from a non-converted to converted state. The pitch of the cholesterically ordered material is influenced by the compound in its converted state to a different extent than in its converted state. The polymerizable layer is then irradiated pattern-wise thus creating regions of different pitch. The irradiated layer is then polymerized and/or cross-linked to fix the cholesteric order thus obtained.
Claims29
A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device comprising a liquid crystal layer dispersed between a first and a second substrate, the first substrate comprising a patterned layer of a polymerized material having a fixed cholesteric order wherein the axis of the molecular helix extends transversely to the patterned layer and the patterned layer has at least a first and a second region in which the pitch of the molecular helix is mutually different, in which method the patterned layer of a polymerized material having a fixed cholesteric order is manufactured in accordance with a method comprising the steps of:
- a. providing a layer of a polymerizable and/or crosslinkable cholesterically ordered material comprising a quantity of a convertible compound which in its non-converted and in its converted state determines the pitch of the cholesterically ordered material to a different extent, the conversion of said compound being inducable by radiation,
- b. irradiating the layer in accordance with a desired pattern so that at least in a first region the convertible compound is converted to a different extent than in a second region,
- c. polymerizing and/or crosslinking the irradiated polymerizable and/or crosslinkable cholesterically ordered material to form a three-dimensional polymerized cholesterically ordered material in which the cholesteric order is fixed.
A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device comprising a layer of a polymerized and/or crosslinked material having a fixed cholesteric order wherein the axis of the molecular helix extends transversely to the layer and the pitch of the helix has a gradient in the direction of said axis, in which method the layer of polymerized and/or crosslinked cholesterically ordered material is manufactured in accordance with a method comprising the steps of:
- a. providing a layer of a polymerizable and/or crosslinkable cholesterically ordered material comprising a quantity of a convertible compound which in its non-converted and in its converted state determines the pitch of the cholesterically ordered material to a different extent, the conversion of said compound being inducable by radiation,
- b. irradiating the layer thus converting, at least partially, the convertible compound to its converted state,
- c. polymerizing and/or crosslinking the irradiated polymerizable and/or crosslinkable cholesterically ordered material to form a three-dimensional polymerized and/or crosslinked cholesterically ordered material in which the cholesteric order is fixed,
- wherein the absorption of the polymerizable and/or cross-linkable layer and the intensity of the radiation used in step b are selected such that the radiation is substantially absorbed by the polymerizable and/or cross-linkable layer, creating, transversely to the layer, a gradient in the pitch of the molecular helix.
A liquid crystal display device comprising a liquid crystal layer dispersed between a first and a second substrate, the first substrate comprising a patterned layer of a polymerized and/or cross-linked material having a fixed cholesteric order wherein the axis of the molecular helix extends transversely to the patterned layer, wherein the patterned layer comprises a quantity of a convertible compound which in its non-converted and in its converted state determines the pitch of the cholesterically ordered material to a different extent, the conversion being inducable by radiation and wherein the patterned layer has at least a first and a second region in which the pitch of the molecular helix is mutually different.
A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device comprising a liquid crystal layer dispersed between a first and a second substrate, the first substrate comprising a patterned layer of a polymerized material having a fixed cholesteric order wherein the axis of the molecular helix extends transversely to the patterned layer and the patterned layer has at least a first and a second region in which the pitch of the molecular helix is mutually different, in which method the patterned layer of a polymerized material having a fixed cholesteric order is manufactured in accordance with a method comprising:
- (1) providing a layer of a polymerizable and/or crosslinkable cholesterically ordered material comprising a quantity of a convertible compound which in its non-converted and in its converted state determines the pitch of the cholesterically ordered material to a different extent, the conversion of said compound being inducable by radiation,
- (2) irradiating the layer in accordance with a desired pattern so that, simultaneously, in a first region the convertible compound is converted to a first extent, in a second region the convertible compound is converted to a second extent, and in a third region the convertible compound is converted to a third extent, wherein the first extent is greater than the second extent, and the second extent is greater than the third extent;
- and
- (3) polymerizing and/or crosslinking the irradiated polymerizable and/or crosslinkable cholesterically ordered material to form a three-dimensional polymerized cholesterically ordered material in which the cholesteric order is fixed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.