Retardation element, display element comprising the same, and process of producing retardation element

A process for producing a retardation element for use in a display element comprising pixels, each of the pixels comprising a red display section, a green display section and a blue display section, the process comprising:

• forming a liquid crystal layer on a substrate having aligning power, the liquid crystal layer comprising a polymerizable liquid crystalline material;
• curing the liquid crystal layer formed on the substrate by applying first radiation to the liquid crystal layer, a quantity of the first radiation applied to the liquid crystal layer being varied over a group of fine areas in the liquid crystal layer, each of the fine areas of the liquid crystal layer corresponding to a respective one of the red display section, the green display section and the blue display section;
• bringing the cured liquid crystal layer into contact with an organic solvent to develop an uncured component of the liquid crystal layer;
• and
• further curing the cured liquid crystal layer subsequent to bringing the cured liquid crystal layer into contact with the organic solvent,
• wherein each of the fine areas of the resulting retardation element has a thickness corresponding to the quantity of the first radiation applied to the respective one of the tine areas;
• and
• further curing the cured liquid crystal layer comprises applying second radiation to fully cure the semi-cured and uncured portions of the previously cured liquid crystal layer.