title: Liquid crystal alignment in nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide layer for LCD panel applications.
abstract: This paper reports the implementation and integration of a self-assembled nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide (np-AAO) film and liquid crystal (LC) on an ITO-glass substrate for liquid crystal display (LCD) panel applications. An np-AAO layer with a nanopore array acts as the vertical alignment layer to easily and uniformly align the LC molecules. Moreover, the np-AAO nanoalignment layer provides outstanding material properties, such as being inorganic with good transmittance, and colorless on ITO-glass substrates. In this application, an LCD panel, with the LC on the np-AAO nanoalignment layer, is successfully implemented on an ITO-glass substrate, and its performance is demonstrated. The measurements show that the LCD panel, consisting of an ITO-glass substrate and an np-AAO layer, has a transmittance of 60-80%. In addition, the LCD panel switches from a black state to a bright state at 3 V(rms), with a response time of 62.5 ms. In summary, this paper demonstrates the alignment of LC on an np-AAO layer for LCD applications.
authors.affiliation: Institute of NanoEngineering and MicroSystems, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chitsung
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Tsung-Ta
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Chi-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Ru-Pin
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Weileun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fang