Aligning method of liquid crystal, process for producing liquid crystal device, and liquid crystal device produced by the process

摘要

An aligning method of a chiral smectic liquid crystal includes the steps of: disposing a chiral smectic liquid crystal between a pair of electrode plates, the chiral smectic liquid crystal having a layer spacing-changing characteristic providing a layer spacing which increases on temperature decrease in a first temperature range in smectic A phase; and subjecting the chiral smectic liquid crystal to a heat treatment including a sequence of cooling from a higher temperature phase to a second temperature range in smectic A phase including at least a portion of the first temperature range, at least one cycle of heating and cooling within the second temperature range, and further cooling to a smectic phase lower than smectic phase. The heat treatment, particularly at least one cycle of heating and cooling in smectic A phase, is effective in suppressing an alignment (orientation) irregularity due to the presence of two regions different in characteristics, thus improving a drive margin.