LIQUID CRYSTAL OPTICAL MODULATOR, ITS MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY DEVICE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flexible liquid crystal optical modulator which can prevent change in the film thickness of a liquid crystal layer due to added external force to curve the modulator and has high contrast by preventing the disturbance in the alignment of a liquid crystal.

SOLUTION: The liquid crystal optical modulator 20 comprises a liquid crystal optical modulation element 30 and a pair of polarizing plates 8a and 8b. The polarizing plates 8a and 8b are so arranged that their transmission axes of polarization intersect orthogonally with each other. The liquid crystal optical modulation element 30 is constructed by holding a liquid crystal/resin composite body 3 formed by dispersing a synthetic resin 2 into a ferroelectric liquid crystal 1 and a resin structural object 4 mainly composed of the synthetic resin 2 between transparent substrates 7a and 7b annexed with alignment layers 5a and 5b subjected to alignment treatment and transparent electrodes 6a and 6b. The resin structural object 4 maintains the inter-layer spacing of the liquid crystal/resin composite body 3 and the synthetic resin which is the main body is formed by curing part of the synthetic resin 2 and has molecular alignment made isotropic in the alignment treatment direction of the alignment layers 5a and 5b.

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