Patterned Alignment of Liquid Crystals on Selectively Thiol-Functionalized Photo-Orientation Layers

The patterned alignment of liquid crystals is demonstrated on selectively thiol‐functionalized photo‐orientation layers (see cover). Deposited thiols are covalently bound to unsaturated linkages in linearly photo‐polarizable materials, facilitating the simple and versatile combination of a bi‐directionally planar and a homeotropic alignment of liquid crystals within a single substrate (e.g., in Figure). This opens new possibilities for the design, manufacture, and application of existing and novel display concepts.