Photoreactive self-assembled monolayer for the stabilization of tilt orientation of a director in vertically aligned nematic liquid crystals

Photo-reactive self-assembled monolayer (PR-SAM) is employed to mediate alignment of liquid crystals (LC) and stabilize the tilt orientation of a nematic director for a vertically aligned liquid crystal. Bifunctional PR-SAM formed by silane coupling reaction to oxide surfaces efficiently induces a homeotropic alignment and stabilizes LC director by the photo-polymerization under applied electric field. As a result, the substantial enhancement of electro-optic performance has been achieved after the PR-SAM assisted stabilization of tilt orientation of director. This approach for pretilt stabilization has multifarious advantages over the conventional PSVA. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America