Splay-to-Bend Transition-Free Reactive Monomer Modified Pi-Cell

A reactive monomer modified Pi-cell (RMM-Pi-cell) comprising a layer of liquid crystal (LC) reactive monomer on one surface was prepared to control the surface pretilt angle. The simulation results suggested that a transition-free Pi-cell can be prepared by asymmetrical cell with one 8 deg pretilt angle and the other surface greater than 47 deg when the cell gap was smaller than 4 mum. The nematic reactive monomer layer has a molecular average tilt angle over 80 deg which allowed the LC molecules to be arranged in a favored bend state in the asymmetrical cell. The critical voltages cannot be found in all 3-mu m RMM-Pi-cells. The cell retardation data confirmed the initial bend orientation with zero voltage applied. Moreover, the light leakage of dark state was reduced. The contrast ratio of RMM-Pi-cell was improved by a factor of 11 compared with an original Pi-cell without using compensation film.