Photoinduced alignment of liquid crystals parallel to the polarization direction of linearly polarized light

Abstract

The alignment direction of liquid crystals on polyimide alignment films prepared by in situ exposure to linearly polarized light (LPL) during thermal imidization of poly(amic acid)s has been found to be parallel to the direction of polarization of the LPL, whereas the conventional method, in which the alignment layers are exposed to LPL after imidization, leads to alignment perpendicular to the direction of polarization of the LPL.