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This report discusses homogeneously aligned liquid crystals (LCs) subjected to ion-beam (IB) irradiation of the amorphous(a)-Al2O3 alignment layer. We studied the relationship between LC alignment and IB alignment conditions acting on homogeneous surfaces. We attained homogeneous LC orientations on a- Al2O3 alignment layer by optimization between the van der Waals interactions caused by Al-O bonding breaking with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The voltage-transmittance characteristics of the twisted nematic – liquid crystal displays (LCDs) on the a-Al2O3 film indicate potential for use as the LC alignment layer in various LCD display applications.

This paper introduces the characteristics of the zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) inorganic film deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The homogeneously aligned liquid crystal (LC) on ZrO2 layer via ion beam (IB) irradiation at various incident angles was embodied with LC alignment capability and performance. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) data shows that O-Zr bonds on the ZrO2 surface are broken and induce the van der Waals force for the homogeneous alignment of LCs. That is the van der Waals force, affecting the alignment of the LCs, is verified by the contact angle of the liquid and by the XPS analysis on the ZrO2 thin film. In addition, the advantage of IB alignment method is verified by using atomic force microscope (AFM).

The aligned liquid crystals (LCs) display on SiNx thin films using ion-beam (IB) irradiation was studied with controllability of pretilt angle depending on incident energies of the IB. The LCs alignment property for the SiNx thin films were observed to verify the practical application potential. A good LCs alignment of vertical alignment LCs cells on SiNx thin film surfaces irradiated with incident IB energy of 1800eV was achieved. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of LCs on SiNx thin film surfaces irradiated with IB energy was used for the surface analysis.