No bias pi cell using a dual alignment layer with an intermediate pretilt angle

The authors fabricated a no-bias pi cell using a dual alignment layer with an intermediate pretilt angle via a rubbing. In the dual alignment layer system, the competition between crest region favoring the vertical alignment and trough region favoring planar alignment made it possible to achieve various pretilt angles, and adjusted pretilt angle from 90 degrees to 20 degrees with rubbing. In addition, as the intermediate pretilt angle plays a role in eliminating the activation energy and thus allowing formation of the initial bend state in pi cell fabrication, this approach achieved a no-bias pi cell for a liquid crystal display with both low power consumption and fast response. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.