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Liquid crystals

Out of the groove

Nature volume 392, pages 331–333 (1998)Cite this article

Cellular phones, computer games, electronic diaries and notebook computers are common products nowadays, and they all rely on liquid-crystal displays (LCDs). In turn, high-quality displays depend on precise orientation control of their liquid-crystal materials. How is this done? A popular simplified explanation is that grooves in the supporting substrates dictate liquid-crystal alignment. This does not actually happen in commercial displays; but Bryan-Brown and co-workers (on page 365 of this issue1) remove the discrepancy between the simple picture and the reality. They have made an LCD with lithographic grooves and a new way of electrically manipulating liquid-crystal orientation. Without increasing production costs by much, this could improve the optical performance of LCDs to the point at which they could be used in desktop monitors and televisions.

Liquid crystals consist of elongated, organic molecules, with an average orientation that specifies the local direction of the medium. They form an intermediate phase between disordered liquids and well-organized crystals. Some properties are shared with liquids, such as the ability to completely fill the gap between a display's glass substrates, and the easy rotation of the molecules under the influence of external electrical fields. Other aspects of liquid crystals are solid-like, such as optical and dielectric anisotropy, and energy in elastic deformations.

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Figure 1: Lining up a liquid crystal: molecular orientations for three different switching modes of a liquid-crystal display.

References

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  1. Philips Research Laboratories, Prof. Holstlaan 4, 5656 AA, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Jos van Haaren

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  1. Jos van Haaren
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van Haaren, J. Out of the groove. Nature 392, 331–333 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/32771

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