Alignment of liquid crystal on the polyimide films irradiated by pulsed ultraviolet laser

Abstract

A technique to achieve highly planar alignment of nematic liquid crystals is presented. Spin-coated polyimide film is irradiated by a pulsed ultraviolet laser to align nematic liquid crystal 5CB. The alignment texture of 5CB was observed by a polarized microscope. 5CB is aligned along the polarized direction of the laser beam and a high order parameter S of 0.85 was achieved. It is expected that this technique will find applications in large-area liquid crystal displays and integrated optics.