Takeshi Murashige

Time-of-flight analysis of charge mobility in a Cu-phthalocyanine-based discotic liquid crystal semiconductor

We used a time-of-flight method to study the charge carrier mobility properties of a molecular-aligned discotic liquid crystal semiconductor based on Cu-phthalocyanine. The heated isotropic-phase semiconductor material was sandwiched between transparent electrodes coated onto glass substrates without conventional alignment layers. This was then cooled, and a discotic liquid crystal semiconductor cell was obtained, which we used to make mobility measurements. The material had a fixed molecular alignment due to the supercooling of the hexagonal columnar mesophase. It was clarified that the carrier mobility for electrons was as high as it was for holes at room temperature. The maximum value of negative charge mobility reached 2.60×10−3cm2∕Vs, although negative carrier mobility is often much lower than positive carrier mobility in other organic semiconductors, including conventional Cu-phthalocyanine vacuum-deposited films.

A4‐sized flexible ferroelectric liquid‐crystal displays with micro color filters

— We demonstrated an A4-paper-sized flexible ferroelectric liquid-crystal (FLC) color displays fabricated by using a new plastic-substrate-based process which was developed for large-sized devices. Finely patterned color filters and ITO electrodes were formed on a plastic substrate by a transfer method to avoid surface roughness and thermal distortion of the substrate, which induce disordering of the FLC molecular alignment. The thickness of an FLC/monomer solution sandwiched by two plastic-film substrates was well controlled over a large area by using flexographic printing and lamination techniques. Molecular-aligned polymer walls and fibers were formed in the FLC by a two-step photopolymerization-induced phase-separation method using UV-light irradiation. A fabricated A4-sized flexible-sheet display for color-segment driving was able to exhibit color images even when it was bent.

Polymer Wall Formation Using Liquid-Crystal/Polymer Phase Separation Induced on Patterned Polyimide Films

We could form lattice-shaped polymer walls in a liquid crystal (LC) layer through the thermal phase separation of an LC/polystyrene solution between substrates with polyimide films etched by short-wavelength ultraviolet irradiation using a photomask. The LC wetting difference between the polyimide and substrate surfaces caused the coalescence of growing LC droplets on patterned polyimide films with the progress of phase separation. Consequently, polymer walls were formed on substrate surface areas without polyimide films. The shape of the polymer wall formed became sharp with the use of rubbed polyimide films because the nucleation of growing LC droplets concentrated on the patterned polyimide films. It is thought that the increase in the alignment order of LC molecules in the solution near the rubbed polyimide films promotes the formation of LC molecular aggregation, which becomes the growth nuclei of LC droplets.

Molecular alignment enhancement phenomenon of polymer formed from a liquid crystal monomer in a liquid crystal solvent

We report an abnormal alignment enhancement phenomenon of polymer molecules. The alignment order of a rigid-skeleton polymer made from a liquid crystalline monomer in a low-molecular-weight liquid crystal solvent was drastically enhanced with increasing temperature, even though the alignment order of the solution of the liquid crystal and monomer decreased. From polymer molecular alignment observations using polarizing Raman scattering microscopy, it was found that the polymer alignment order was three times greater than that of the original aligned monomer and polymer. This super alignment technique of polymer using a molecular-scaled self-assembly mechanism is applicable to the formation of electrically and/or optically functional nanopolymer wires.

Flexible ferroelectric liquid‐crystal devices containing fine polymer fibers

A new flexible ferroelectric liquid-crystal-display device with gray-scale capability has been created by using submicrometer-diameter polymer fibers. The polymer fibers, which are formed by photopolymerization of aligned monomer molecules in liquid crystal, align the ferroelectric liquid crystal and mechanically support two flexible thin plastic substrates. The composite film made of liquid crystal and polymer with a thickness of 2 μm was formed between the plastic substrates by using a fabrication method consisting of coating, lamination, and ultraviolet irradiation processes without the conventional gap-forming and injection processes. The fabricated flexible device revealed gray-scale capability due to the change in spatial distribution of micrometer-sized binary-switching liquid-crystal domains. From the polarizing microscope observation, it was found that the switching domains are generated and expanded from the areas with poor polymer density. The experimental results indicated that the polymer fibers spatially modulate the threshold voltage for molecular switching. Our device exhibits great potential for flexible large-sized light-weight motion-image displays.

Alignment mechanism of liquid crystal in a stretched porous polymer film

This article discusses the mechanism of nematic liquid crystal alignment in stretched porous polymer films. The polymer films were formed by extreme stretching of an isotropic porous polyolefin, such that the draw ratio was 12:1. A 6-μm-thick porous film with a high porosity coefficient of 92% revealed fine string-shaped areas that exhibited optical anisotropy due to their possessing a high degree of molecular alignment. The porous film was filled with nematic liquid crystal and then the composite film was sandwiched between transparent electrodes coated onto glass substrates, without the use of conventional alignment layers. From polarizing microscopy observations it was found that the string-like polymer areas induce liquid crystal molecular alignment. The liquid crystal cells can exhibit an electrically controlled birefringence effect. This alignment technique enables us to realize three-dimensional control of liquid crystal alignment.

Anchoring Strength of Thin Aligned-Polymer Films Formed by Liquid Crystalline Monomer

We have evaluated the polar anchoring strength of a thin molecule-aligned polymer film formed by a liquid crystalline monomer. The polymer film was obtained by photopolymerization of the monomer oriented by a rubbed polyimide alignment layer in a chamber filled with N2 gas. We fabricated a nematic liquid crystal cell using the thin aligned-polymer films as alignment layers, and then evaluated the anchoring strength of the polymer by measuring the optical retardation curve of the cell driven by voltages. The experimental result showed that the anchoring strength was one order of magnitude lower than that of a conventional rubbed polyimide alignment layer, and decreased with increasing the cure temperature of the monomer film.

Fundamental display properties of flexible devices containing polymer-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal between plastic substrates

We describe several fundamental display properties of a flexible ferroelectric liquid crystal device containing polymer fibers between thin plastic substrates. The composite film of liquid crystal and polymer was created from a solution of liquid crystal and monomer materials between the plastic substrates under ultraviolet light irradiation. The dynamic electrooptic response to analog voltage pulses was examined with an incidence of laser beam light, and its light modulation property exhibited good linearity in continuous gray-scale capability. The excellent spatial uniformity of liquid crystal alignment formed between the flexible substrates resulted in high-contrast light modulation, although slight spontaneous bending of liquid crystal alignment in the device plane was recognized. When the laser light beam was obliquely incident on the flexible display device, the measured transmittance revealed that the device has a wide viewing angle of more than 100 deg without contrast reversal. This is considered to be caused by the molecular switching in the device plane and the thin electrooptic layer in the display device.

Nematic Liquid Crystal Alignment Behaviors between Crossed Stretched Miropolymer Filaments with Anchoring Effects

We observed the molecular alignment of a liquid crystal (LC) induced by crossing two stretched micropolymer filaments between glass substrates and confirmed its light modulation property. The two microfilaments, which were extracted from a cellulose cloth by stretching it in advance, had surface molecular alignment and stabilized nematic LC alignment between the microfilaments crossed with a small angle. In the fabricated LC cell, a spatially-uniform LC planar alignment is achieved in the area of a filament interval of less than 60 µm. By polarizing microscopy observation of the isotropic-to-nematic wetting transition of the LC material between the polymer filaments, it was confirmed that the stable LC alignment area is formed by the surface anchoring of the filaments. When external voltages were applied to the obtained uniformed alignment LC area, a characteristic periodic electrooptic property was confirmed on the basis of electrically-controlled birefringence under the alignment control of the in-plane anchoring of the filaments.

Thermal shock tolerance of ferroelectric liquid crystal stabilized by aligned polymer fibers

In this paper, we report the marked enhancement of thermal shock tolerance of smectic layer structures of ferroelectric liquid crystal stabilized by aligned fine polymer fibers, which were formed by photopolymerization-induced phase separation. It was found that a smectic layer structure with such polymer fibers, which are aligned perpendicular to the smectic layer, generates no zigzag defects even after the composite film is cooled to -15°C, which is lower than the chiral smectic C-to-crystal phase-transition temperature, or heated to 100°C, which is above the chiral nematic-to-isotropic phase-transition temperature.