Munemitsu Abe

Control of Liquid Crystal Alignment Using Stamped-Morphology Method

We propose a new method to align liquid crystals using microgrooves that are fabricated by a stamping process. This rubless alignment method has the advantage of accurate control of the pretilt angle and azimuthal surface anchoring energy by means of changing the surface morphology. In this paper we discuss the control of the pretilt angle and the azimuthal surface anchoring energy in detail.

Application of Nano-Carbon Actuator to Braille Display

Ionic electro-active polymer(EAP) actuators based on nano-carbon electrodes, which are comprised of materials such as carbon nano-tubes, ionic liquid and polymer are characterized by their thin, light and low-voltage properties. Alps had developed an ultra-thin and ultra-light Braille display for vision-impaired people utilizing this technology, in collaboration with AIST, Tokyo Univ., and Keio Univ. from fiscal 2009 to 2010, with the support of Ministry of Heath, Labor and Welfare (MLHW), Japan.. In addition, for the purpose of improving the readability of display on the part of vision-impaired people who lost vision later in life, or those with finger paralysis, we developed a Braille display with a latching mechanism to move Braille dots.