VERTICAL ALIGNMENT LAYER, OPTICAL COMPENSATION SHEET, STN-TYPE LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY, AND METHOD FOR ALIGNING DISCOTIC LIQUID CRYSTAL MOLECULE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable liq. crystal molecules to be stably aligned vertically and unidirectionally by using a vertical alignment layer which has a function to align liq. crystal molecules at an average tilt angle in a specified range and contains a modified polyvinyl alcohol having fluorinated sulfonamide groups.;SOLUTION: A liq. crystal cell 1 has a structure comprising rodlike liq. crystal molecules 13a-e sealed between alignment layers 12 and 14, and when the applied voltage is 0, the liq. crystal molecules are aligned in parallel with the alignment layers 12 and 14 and arranged so that the molecules form spirals twisted in the horizontal plane and extending along the thickness direction. In an optical anisotropic layer 21 constituting an optical compensation sheet 2, discotic liq. crystal molecules 21a-e are aligned at an average tilt angle of 50°-90° with a vertical alignment layer 22. Pref., the discotic liq. crystal molecules 21a-e are aligned so that they forms spirals twisted in the horizontal plane and extending along the thickness direction. The vertical alignment layer 22 consists of a modified polyvinyl alcohol having fluorinated sulfonamide groups, such as represented by the formula.;COPYRIGHT: (C)2000,JPO