MACROMOLECULAR DISPERSION TYPE LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY ELEMENT AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME

摘要

A liquid crystal element wherein liquid crystal droplets are dispersed and retained in a macromolecular compound between a pair of substrates having electrodes on the respective inner surfaces. The liquid crystal droplets have substantially the same shape and size and the variation in the particle size is small, whereby it becomes possible to stably retain the alignment mode of the liquid crystal droplets in a bipolar type in a wide temperature range, and minimize the hysteresis of the transmittance of light with respect to a voltage applied across the electrodes. The same effect can also be obtained by reducing a tilt angle of the liquid crystal molecules in the vicinity of an interface between the liquid crystals and the macromolecular compound or increasing the anchoring strength, as a result of adding an interface regulating force controlling agent to a mutual solution of the liquid crystal and a macromolecule precursor, and raising the temperature at which the polymerization of the macromolecule and the phase separation of the macromolecule and the liquid crystal from each other occur by the ultraviolet radiation. The same effect can also be obtained by reducing the hysteresis of electrostatic capacity to a low level, or setting the electrostatic capacity ratio over 60 % at a voltage which gives a transmittance of not less than 10 % in voltage-transmittance characteristics. The electric field response can be improved in a wide range of temperatures in use, by reducing the surface tension of a liquid crystalline material to a level lower than that of the critical surface tension of an insulating film or the surface tension of the macromolecular compound. Accordingly, a display such as a TV set and a personal computer which are capable of displaying animations in a wide range of temperatures in use can be obtained.