Vertically Aligned Liquid Crystals on Tantalum Oxide Thin Films Using Ion Beam irradiation Processing.

In this study, we explored the effects of ion beam (IB) bombardment on the orientation of liquid crystal (LC) molecules on Ta₂O₅ surfaces. Increasing the lB exposure time resulted in improved LC alignment characteristics. Through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis, it was also confirmed that LB irradiation caused Ta 4f and 0 Is peak shifts in the positive direction. The breaking phenomenon of the 0 Is bonds may cause anisotropic dipole-dipole forces to stably align the vertical LC molecules. Finally, measuring the contact angles on the lB irradiated Ta₂O₅ surfaces, we concluded that increasing the LB irradiation time strengthened the anisotropic surface energy on the Ta₂O₅ surfaces, and stable vertical LC alignment was achieved via the transformed surface energies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]