Well aligned half-V ferroelectric liquid crystal in asymmetrical surface polarity controlled alignment cells

Ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) were known to possess fast response time under 1 ms. The low contrast ratio yielding from defect alignment, however, limited their display application. Based on FLC elastic free energy, the asymmetrical surface polarity controlled alignment was able to suppress the horizontal chevron defects in a half V-shaped switching FLC cell. It is due to the FLC's spontaneous polarization (Ps) pointed to one direction inducing by the opposite surface polarity in asymmetrical hybrid cell. The experimental approach of different alignment materials and different strengths of surface anchoring energies were evaluated in this study. The highest contrast ratio of 780:1 at saturation voltage under 5 V was obtained. The asymmetrical surface polarity controlled alignment technique provided a promising FLC well alignment and fast switching result for TFT-LCD application.