JPH11326880A - Liquid crystal display, its production, and electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a polymer dispersed type liquid crystal display with improved contrast of display by compensating the directivity of scattering intensity of a liquid crystal polymer composite layer and increasing the brightness of scattering. SOLUTION: In a liquid crystal polymer composite layer 30, are provided a first composite alignment region 31, a second composite alignment region 32 and a liquid crystal alignment region 33. In the first composite alignment region 31, both liquid crystals LC and polymer HP are almost uniformly aligned parallel with the rubbing direction of the alignment film 12, namely the direction perpendicular to the plane of the figure. In the second composite alignment region 32, both liquid crystals LC and polymer HP are almost uniformly aligned parallel with the rubbing direction of the alignment film 22, namely in the direction right to left in the figure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal device and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly to a liquid crystal device suitable as a liquid crystal display device having a polymer dispersed liquid crystal polymer composite layer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal display device having a liquid crystal-polymer composite layer in which liquid crystal and a polymer are mutually dispersed has been developed. In recent years, this polymer-dispersed liquid crystal display device has been adopted for various devices, and is used, for example, as a time display section of a digital wristwatch.

At present, a liquid crystal display device using a TN type or STN type liquid crystal panel using a polarizing plate is generally used. However, a polymer dispersed type liquid crystal display device requires the use of a polarizing plate. Since there is no display, the brightness of the display can be easily obtained. Therefore, it is often used as a reflection type liquid crystal display device particularly requiring the brightness of the display. In a reflective polymer-dispersed liquid crystal display device, a reflective surface is arranged behind the liquid crystal polymer composite layer, and the display is controlled by controlling the liquid crystal polymer composite layer to a light scattering state and a light transmission state by an electric field. Do. In the case of black and white display, when the liquid crystal polymer composite layer is in a light scattering state, external light is scattered by the liquid crystal polymer composite layer to become white. When the liquid crystal polymer composite layer is in a light transmitting state, external light is incident on the liquid crystal polymer composite layer and then reflected on the reflection surface, so that specularly reflected light from the reflection surface is prevented from entering the eyes. To achieve black display.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned polymer-dispersed liquid crystal display device, for example, the twist angle is not given to the liquid crystal molecules inside the liquid crystal polymer composite layer.
Alternatively, when only a small twist angle of 180 degrees or less is provided, strong directivity with respect to the azimuth angle occurs in the scattering intensity in the light scattering state. For this reason, sufficient contrast cannot be obtained depending on the angle at which the liquid crystal display surface is viewed, which is a cause of greatly impairing display quality.

[0005] The directivity of high scattering intensity with respect to the azimuth angle can be eliminated by increasing the twist angle of the liquid crystal molecules. However, in order to sufficiently eliminate the directivity, the twist angle is set to 360 degrees or more. There is a need. But,
Even if such a high twist angle is formed, the average scattering intensity is obtained over all azimuth angles, but the scattering intensity itself is reduced, and sufficient brightness is not always obtained,
Forming a high twist angle tends to cause display unevenness due to variations in the gap of the liquid crystal panel, and also increases the required driving voltage.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to increase display brightness and contrast by complementing the directivity of the scattering intensity of the liquid crystal polymer composite layer. An object of the present invention is to provide a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal device.

[0007]

Means taken by the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problem is a liquid crystal device in which a liquid crystal layer comprising a liquid crystal and a polymer is sandwiched between a pair of substrates.
The liquid crystal layer is formed of a composite alignment region including the liquid crystal and the polymer and a liquid crystal alignment region including only the liquid crystal.

[0008] Further, a plurality of the composite orientation regions are formed, and the orientation directions are different from each other.

With such a configuration, even when the scattering directivity of the liquid crystal polymer composite layer is strong, the directivity of the first alignment region and the directivity of the second alignment region are different. Therefore, by complementing each other, the scattering directivity is reduced and the scattering intensity is increased as a whole, so that a high contrast can be obtained.

[0010] Further, the present invention is characterized in that the composite alignment regions having different alignment directions are stacked adjacent to each other. With such a configuration, the alignment of the polymer and liquid crystal present in the composite alignment region can be easily controlled by the alignment film formed on the substrate surface.

[0011] The liquid crystal display device is characterized in that the composite alignment regions having different alignment directions are laminated with the liquid crystal alignment region interposed therebetween. In particular, the composite orientation region is formed in the vicinity of the substrate, the orientation direction of the first composite orientation region formed in the vicinity of one of the substrates, and the composite orientation region is formed in the vicinity of the other substrate. The orientation direction of the second composite orientation region is different.

With such a configuration, since no optical discontinuity is formed in the liquid crystal layer, unnecessary scattering and the like can be reduced, and the display quality and contrast can be further improved. .

It is preferable that the orientation direction of the first composite orientation region is set so as to be substantially perpendicular to the orientation direction of the second composite orientation region. By doing so, the scattering efficiency can be effectively improved.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the layer thickness of the composite alignment region is larger than the layer thickness of the liquid crystal alignment region. With such a setting, the scattering intensity can be increased.

Further, in a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device in which a liquid crystal layer composed of a liquid crystal and a polymer is sandwiched between a pair of substrates, one of the substrates has a first liquid crystal as a first composite alignment region. A polymer composite layer, a step of forming a second liquid crystal polymer composite layer serving as a second composite alignment region on the other substrate, and a step of bonding the pair of substrates with the composite alignment region facing each other. It is characterized by having.

By adopting such a manufacturing method, it is easy to control the alignment in each region, and it is possible to design the optical characteristics of the liquid crystal device with high precision.

Further, a step of injecting a liquid crystal between the pair of substrates after bonding the pair of substrates to form a liquid crystal alignment region between the first composite alignment region and the second composite alignment region. It is characterized by having.

By adopting such a manufacturing method, it is difficult to form an optically discontinuous boundary portion, and it is possible to further reduce unnecessary scattering and the like.

In a polymer dispersion type liquid crystal display device,
In particular, when the twist angle is small, for example, when the twist angle is 0 to 300 degrees, and preferably when the twist angle is 0 to 200 degrees, the light scattering intensity is high in two azimuth regions opposed to each other with an interval of approximately 180 degrees. Become. In the above twist angle range, the azimuth angle region where good scattering characteristics are obtained due to the directivity of the light scattering intensity becomes narrower but the scattering intensity itself increases, so that the azimuth angle region where the light scattering intensity is higher is directed in different directions. By providing the overlapping first composite orientation region and second composite orientation region, display can be brightened by effectively using external light. Constructing a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal display device with a small twist angle not only provides the above-mentioned good directivity of scattering intensity, but also reduces the occurrence of display unevenness due to cell gap variations. This is preferable in that the drive voltage can be reduced while the drive voltage can be reduced.

As will be described later, the directivity of the scattering intensity can be easily designed by actually controlling the alignment state of liquid crystal molecules and / or polymers in the liquid crystal polymer composite layer.

The liquid crystal display device described in each of the above means can be configured as a main display unit of an electronic timepiece, a computer, and other electronic devices, or as an auxiliary display unit of a printer and other electric devices. In particular, it is effective for use in portable electronic devices such as an electronic wristwatch, a portable information terminal, and a mobile phone in that the display of the reflective liquid crystal display device can be bright and the contrast can be improved.

[0022]

Next, an embodiment of a liquid crystal device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Each of the embodiments described below is configured as a reflection type liquid crystal display device for realizing a desired display. However, the present invention is not limited to the following reflection type structure, but may be a transmission type structure. Further, the present invention is not limited to a device configured as a liquid crystal display device, but can be configured as various application devices such as a device used for a projection unit of a liquid crystal projector and a liquid crystal blind.

FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic structure when a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention, in particular, a reflection type liquid crystal device is formed. In this embodiment, a liquid crystal layer 30 is sealed between a transparent front substrate 10 and a rear substrate 20 made of inorganic glass by a sealing material (not shown).

A transparent electrode 11 made of ITO (indium tin oxide) or the like is formed on the inner surface of the front substrate.
An alignment film 12 made of a polyimide resin, polyvinyl alcohol, or the like is applied on the entire surface of the transparent electrode 11, and is formed by drying or firing. The surface of the alignment film 12 is subjected to a rubbing treatment by rubbing with a cloth or the like in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of the drawing. On the other hand, a reflective electrode 21 is formed on the inner surface of the rear substrate 20 by depositing a metal such as Al or Cr by vapor deposition, sputtering, or the like. An alignment film 22 similar to the above is also formed on the surface of the reflection electrode 21. The surface of the alignment film 22 is subjected to the same rubbing treatment as described above in the horizontal direction in the drawing.

In the case of a simple matrix type liquid crystal device, the transparent electrode 11 and the reflective electrode 21 are formed in a stripe shape extending in a direction orthogonal to each other, and include a TFT (thin film transistor) and a MIM (metal-insulator-metal) element. In the active matrix type liquid crystal device having the active elements described above, the transparent electrode 11 is formed on the front surface of the substrate or in a stripe shape, and the reflective electrode is formed in an independent shape such as a flat rectangular shape separated for each pixel region. Is done.

The liquid crystal layer 30 of the present embodiment is a liquid crystal polymer composite layer, in which liquid crystal molecules and polymers are usually present in a dispersed state inside the liquid crystal layer 30. In this state, a state in which polymer particles are dispersed in a liquid crystal,
There are various modes such as a liquid crystal in which a large number of polymer particles are arranged so as to be connected to each other, and a liquid crystal contained in a network-like skeleton of a gel polymer.

In this case, as a usual polymer-dispersed liquid crystal display device, a solution in which liquid crystal and a polymer precursor that can be polymerized by light or electron beam are mixed is injected into an empty cell. After that, it is preferable to form the liquid crystal layer 30 by irradiating light, an electron beam, or the like, thereby polymerizing the polymer precursor, and depositing the polymer in the liquid crystal by phase separation. Various liquid crystals can be used as long as they have dielectric anisotropy and refractive index anisotropy. Here, when the liquid crystal has a positive dielectric anisotropy, the liquid crystal is horizontally aligned by rubbing the substrate surface, and when the liquid crystal has a negative dielectric anisotropy, the liquid crystal is vertically aligned. Is preferred. In particular, when a liquid crystal layer is formed by this method, both the liquid crystal and the polymer can be oriented in a predetermined direction.

Examples of the polymer precursor include photo- or electron-beam-polymerizable compounds such as biphenyl methacrylate and other methacrylates, acrylates, and other vinyl compounds.
A thermopolymerizable compound such as an epoxy compound can be used. The thermopolymerizable compound can be heated to an appropriate temperature to cause phase separation of the polymer. In addition, a thermoplastic compound such as ethyl cellulose can be used as the polymer. In this case, the polymer is mixed with the liquid crystal in a heated state, and then injected into an empty cell and cooled to cause phase separation of the polymer. be able to. The contrast and the viewing angle dependency of the display can be improved by forming a certain twist angle by mixing a chiral component in the liquid crystal component.

As a specific example of forming the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal layer 30 in this embodiment, for example, 95 wt% of “BL007” (trade name) manufactured by Merck Ltd. is used as the liquid crystal.
(However, when chiral components are added, 90 to 94 wt.
%. ), "CB15" (trade name) manufactured by Merck as a chiral component is added in an amount of 0 to 3 wt% (however, only when a twist angle is formed. In addition, the amount of the chiral component is within the range according to the twist angle. The solution is prepared by mixing 5 wt% of biphenyl methacrylate as a polymer precursor, and the solution is mixed with a front substrate 10, a rear substrate 20, and a gap between substrates made of a sealing material of 5 μm. The polymer particles are injected into an empty cell, sealed, and then irradiated with ultraviolet rays to cause a phase separation of the polymer particles in the liquid crystal. When the irradiation amount of the ultraviolet rays is appropriately set, the driving voltage becomes about 5 volts, and the clock IC can be driven sufficiently. In such a method of forming a liquid crystal layer, since the ratio of the liquid crystal component is about 50 to 97 wt%, the driving voltage and the display mode can be set in a practical range.

In such a liquid crystal layer 30, when no electric field is applied, the liquid crystal and the polymer particles in the liquid crystal layer are horizontally aligned, and the liquid crystal and the polymer particles have substantially the same optical refractive index. It becomes a light transmitting state. On the other hand, when an electric field exceeding a predetermined threshold is applied, the liquid crystal having dielectric anisotropy is vertically aligned in a region where the electric field is applied, and the liquid crystal also has refractive index anisotropy. A difference occurs between the refractive index of the polymer and the polymer, which results in a light scattering state.

For this reason, by applying a voltage exceeding the threshold value to an area corresponding to the display contents of numbers, characters, figures, etc., it is possible to make the area cloudy. In this case, the liquid crystal layer 3
In order to apply a predetermined electric field to zero, a large number of electrodes in a matrix may be formed on the inner surfaces of the front substrate 10 and the rear substrate 20, or some of the numerals, characters and figures may be formed. When it is sufficient to display only a limited number of display contents, some segment electrodes may be formed on one substrate inner surface, and a common electrode may be formed on the other substrate inner surface. Further, by setting the refractive indexes of the liquid crystal and the polymer, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a light scattering state occurs when no electric field is applied and a light transmitting state occurs when an electric field is applied.

Normally, in a liquid crystal display device provided with the above-mentioned polymer dispersed liquid crystal polymer composite layer, no voltage is applied between the transparent electrode 11 and the reflective electrode 21 and no initial electric field is applied. When the liquid crystal and the polymer are uniformly aligned in the layer in the alignment state, when the liquid crystal polymer composite layer enters the light scattering state, light is directed to a specific azimuth range with respect to the initial alignment direction. A strong directivity with high scattering intensity occurs. That is, the liquid crystal polymer composite layer strongly scatters light incident from a specific azimuth range, but the scattering intensity for light incident from other azimuths becomes extremely small. Generally, when the twist angle of the liquid crystal is 0 degrees, strong light scattering is exhibited only in two narrow azimuth ranges 180 degrees apart from each other. When the twist angle increases to 90 degrees or 180 degrees, the directivity of the light scattering intensity is reduced, and the azimuth range where the scattering intensity is strong is widened but the scattering intensity in the azimuth range is weakened. When the twist angle becomes about 360 degrees, the directivity of the scattering intensity almost disappears, and the scattering intensity becomes almost the same in all directions.

In the present embodiment, in the liquid crystal layer 30, the first composite alignment region 31 on the front substrate side, the second composite alignment region 32 on the rear substrate side, and the first composite alignment region and the second composite alignment region A liquid crystal alignment region 33 is provided between the composite alignment regions. In the first composite alignment region 31, both the liquid crystal LC and the polymer HP are almost uniformly aligned along the rubbing direction of the alignment film 12, that is, the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. On the other hand, in the second composite alignment region 32, both the liquid crystal LC and the polymer HP
That is, they are oriented substantially uniformly in the left-right direction in the figure. Therefore, the first composite alignment region 31 and the second composite alignment region 32 have alignment directions substantially orthogonal to each other.

In the liquid crystal alignment region 33, almost only the liquid crystal LC exists, and the liquid crystal LC is in the first composite alignment region 3.
1, the orientation is substantially oriented in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, but the orientation gradually turns toward the back side, and at the boundary with the second composite orientation region 32, the orientation is horizontal in the drawing. Almost oriented. Therefore, the liquid crystal LC in the liquid crystal alignment region 31 has a twist angle of approximately 90 degrees.

The thickness of the liquid crystal layer 30 can be generally adjusted in the range of 3 to 10 μm, but in the present embodiment, the thickness is set to be approximately 5 μm as a whole. For example, the thickness of the first composite alignment region 31 and the second composite alignment region 32 is 1 μm.
The remainder is defined as a liquid crystal alignment region 33 by m. However, when it is desired to increase the scattering intensity, the ratio of the thickness of the first composite orientation region 31 and the thickness of the second composite orientation region 32 is increased.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a manufacturing process for manufacturing the liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment. First, FIG.
As shown in (a) and (d), the transparent electrode 11 and the reflective electrode 1 are formed on the inner surfaces of the rear substrate 20 and the front substrate 10.
2 and the alignment films 12 and 22 are formed, and rubbing is performed by rubbing the surfaces of the alignment films 12 and 22 with a roller to which a cloth is attached in a direction orthogonal to each other.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2E, a solution in which the liquid crystal and the polymer precursor are compatible is prepared, and an appropriate solvent such as toluene is mixed with the solution. To adjust the viscosity of the solution to apply the solution on the inner surfaces of the rear substrate 20 and the front substrate 10. Various known coating methods can be used, and for example, a spin coating method can be used. The thickness of the coatings 13 and 23 can be controlled by the viscosity of the solution and the conditions at the time of coating (such as spin rotation speed). Thereafter, the rear substrate 10 and the front substrate 20 are left standing for a while to evaporate the solvent. At this time, the solvent can be promoted by heating to a temperature of about 70 to 80 ° C. or lower.

Next, by irradiating the coating films 13 and 23 with light, for example, ultraviolet light, the polymer precursor is polymerized and phase-separated as shown in FIGS. Is deposited in the liquid crystal, so that the liquid crystal polymer composite layers 14 and 24 are formed. At this time, the deposited polymer is the alignment film 12,
The liquid crystal is oriented in the rubbing direction 22 similarly to the liquid crystal.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2 (g), the front substrate 10 and the rear substrate 20 are bonded together via a sealing material (not shown) so that the inner surfaces thereof face each other. The distance between the front substrate 10 and the rear substrate 20 is 3 as described above.
The thickness is about 10 to 10 μm, and is appropriately set according to the optical characteristics and the thickness of the liquid crystal polymer composite layers 14 and 24. In this bonding step, the liquid crystal polymer composite layers 14 and 24 may be bonded to each other. However, in this case, unnecessary scattering is likely to occur due to the occurrence of a discontinuous interface, and the optical characteristics in the light transmitting state are increased. Is deteriorated, and there is a possibility that the contrast is lowered and other display quality is deteriorated. Therefore, in this bonding step, the front substrate 10
It is preferable to set the distance between the liquid crystal polymer composite layers 14 and 24 such that a gap of about 1 to 3 μm is formed between the liquid crystal polymer composite layers 14 and 24.

Finally, the liquid crystal cell formed as described above is placed in a vacuum chamber, and liquid crystal is injected into the cell surrounded by the sealing material. In this case, the liquid crystal is preferably the same as the liquid crystal used for the liquid crystal polymer composite layers 14 and 24 in order to reduce optical discontinuity in the liquid crystal layer. However, even if they are not completely the same, liquid crystals having optically similar characteristics may be injected as long as they do not cause unnecessary optical scattering. In this case, the liquid crystal to be injected is
Since the liquid crystal polymer composite layer 14 and the liquid crystal polymer composite layer 24 are in contact with each other, the alignment directions at the boundaries differ by 90 degrees, and have a twist angle of 90 degrees as shown in FIG. In this case, it is desirable that a chiral agent be added to the liquid crystal to be injected to control the twist angle and the twist direction, so that a uniform optical characteristic is exhibited. As described above, as shown in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal layer 30 including the first composite alignment region 31 and the second composite alignment region 32, and the liquid crystal layer 30 having the liquid crystal alignment region 33 formed by the injected liquid crystal is provided therebetween. It is formed.

In this embodiment, the orientation directions of the liquid crystal and the polymer in the first composite alignment region 31 and the second composite alignment region 32 are basically constant, and the light scattering intensity in each region is strong. Although there is directivity, the directivity of the scattering intensity is complemented by arranging them so that light scattering characteristics excellent in uniformity as a whole can be obtained. In particular, since the light scattering characteristic is not improved by increasing the twist angle, display unevenness hardly occurs, and the driving voltage does not increase.

Further, since the liquid crystal alignment region 33 is formed between the first composite alignment region 31 and the second composite alignment region 32, the first composite alignment region 31 and the second composite alignment region 32 Since an optically discontinuous boundary surface is unlikely to occur between them, unnecessary scattering can be reduced and display quality can be improved.

In the above embodiment, although the twist angle is not set in each of the first composite alignment region 31 and the second composite alignment region 32, the first composite alignment region 3
By setting the twist angle also in the first and second composite orientation regions 32, the directivity of the respective scattering intensities can be reduced. However, these first composite orientation regions 31,
In the second composite orientation region 32, it is not necessary to form a large twist angle as in the related art, and a twist angle of 270 degrees or less, preferably 90 to 180 degrees is sufficient.

FIG. 3 shows the threshold voltage Vth, the saturation voltage Vsat, the scattering luminance of the liquid crystal layer in the light scattering state and the light transmitting state at the time of driving of the present embodiment, and these values are compared with those of the conventional high voltage. Molecular dispersion type liquid crystal display (when the twist angles are 0 degree, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, 270 degrees, and 360 degrees, hereinafter, conventional examples are A1, A2, A3, and A4).
And a case where two thin liquid crystal cells having initial orientation directions orthogonal to each other are stacked (hereinafter referred to as Comparative Example C).
It is shown in comparison with. The threshold voltage Vth and the saturation voltage Vsat are lower as the twist angle is smaller in the conventional example and lower in the comparative example C, but are also lower in the embodiment E. On the other hand, the higher the twist angle in the conventional example, the higher the scattering luminance Tmax in the more preferable light scattering state and the lower the preferable scattering luminance Tmin in the light transmitting state, and the lower the luminance in Comparative Example C. On the other hand, in the embodiment E, as in the conventional example having a large twist angle of 270 to 360 degrees, good scattering luminance characteristics are shown.

FIG. 4 shows the contrast ratio of the present embodiment in comparison with a conventional example and a comparative example similar to the above. In the case of the comparative example, a higher contrast ratio is exhibited than in the case of the conventional example. However, it can be seen that the embodiment E exhibits a higher contrast ratio (about 12 to 13) than the comparative example.

This embodiment has a high contrast as shown in FIG. 4 because the scattering luminance in the light scattering state is high and the scattering luminance in the light transmitting state is low. This is probably because unnecessary scattering by the substrate disposed between the two liquid crystal cells does not occur. FIG. 5 shows the dependence of the light transmittance of the liquid crystal polymer composite layer of the present embodiment on the applied voltage in comparison with the conventional example and the comparative example as described above. Conventional examples A1 and A2
Although the light transmittance in the light transmitting state is high, the contrast is reduced due to the low scattering luminance in the light scattering state. In the conventional examples A3 to A5, the light transmittance in the light transmitting state is high, and the scattering luminance in the light scattering state is higher than that in the conventional examples A1 and A2. Since the maximum value is greatly reduced, the increase in contrast is not so large. In Comparative Example C, since two liquid crystal cells having the orthogonal initial alignment directions are stacked, the scattering luminance in the light scattering state is large, but the light transmittance in the light transmitting state is 70% due to the influence of the panel substrate. Is slightly reduced. On the other hand, in the embodiment E, the scattered luminance is high and the light transmittance in the light transmitting state is sufficiently high, so that the contrast is greatly improved as compared with the related art.

In the above embodiment, only the liquid crystal is injected after forming the liquid crystal cell. However, as in the case of the liquid crystal polymer composite layer, a solution in which the liquid crystal and the polymer precursor are compatible is injected, and photopolymerization is performed. The liquid crystal polymer composite layer may be formed as a liquid crystal alignment region. This liquid crystal alignment region may be composed of only a polymer as long as the alignment state can be changed. Further, the liquid crystal polymer composite layer may be formed by thermal polymerization or other methods other than photopolymerization.

Such a liquid crystal device can be mounted on an electronic device as shown in FIG. 6A and 6B show an electronic device equipped with the liquid crystal device of the present invention, wherein FIG.
(B) is a diagram showing an electronic timepiece, and (c) is a diagram showing a portable personal computer. In addition, as described above, it can be configured as an auxiliary display unit in a printer or other electric equipment. In particular, it is effective for use in portable electronic devices such as an electronic wristwatch, a portable information terminal, and a mobile phone in that the display of the reflective liquid crystal display device can be bright and the contrast can be improved.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention, the distribution of increase / decrease of the scattering intensity with respect to the azimuthal angle of the liquid crystal polymer composite layer is complemented by regions in the layer having different initial alignment directions. Therefore, while the directivity of the scattering intensity can be reduced, the light transmittance in the light transmitting state and the brightness of the display are not reduced, so that the display contrast can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural explanatory view showing a schematic structure of an embodiment of a liquid crystal device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is schematic manufacturing process diagrams (a) to (h) showing an outline of an embodiment of the manufacturing method of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing drive voltage characteristics and scattered luminance of the embodiment in comparison with a conventional example and a comparative example.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a contrast ratio of a display in the embodiment in comparison with a conventional example and a comparative example.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing characteristics of the light transmittance with respect to an applied voltage in the same embodiment in comparison with a conventional example and a comparative example.

FIG. 6 is an electronic apparatus equipped with the liquid crystal device of the present invention;
(A) is a diagram showing a mobile phone, (b) is an electronic timepiece, and (c) is a diagram showing a portable personal computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 front substrate 11 transparent electrode 12, 22 alignment film 20 rear substrate 21 reflective electrode 30 liquid crystal layer 31 first composite alignment region 32 second composite alignment region 33 liquid crystal alignment region

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A liquid crystal device in which a liquid crystal layer composed of a liquid crystal and a polymer is sandwiched between a pair of substrates, wherein the liquid crystal layer comprises a composite alignment region composed of the liquid crystal and the polymer, and only the liquid crystal. And a liquid crystal alignment region comprising: a liquid crystal device; 2. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the composite alignment regions are formed, and the alignment directions are different from each other. 3. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the composite alignment regions having different alignment directions are stacked adjacent to each other. 4. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the composite alignment regions having different alignment directions are stacked with the liquid crystal alignment region interposed therebetween. 5. The composite orientation region is formed near the substrate, and the orientation direction of a first composite orientation region formed near one of the substrates and the composite orientation region is formed near the other substrate. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein an orientation direction of the formed second composite orientation region is different. 6. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the alignment direction of the first composite alignment region is substantially orthogonal to the alignment direction of the second composite alignment region. . 7. The liquid crystal alignment region according to claim 1, wherein a layer thickness of said composite alignment region is larger than a layer thickness of said liquid crystal alignment region.
A liquid crystal device according to any one of the above. 8. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device in which a liquid crystal layer composed of liquid crystal and a polymer is sandwiched between a pair of substrates, wherein one of the substrates has a first liquid crystal as a first composite alignment region. A polymer composite layer, a step of forming a second liquid crystal polymer composite layer serving as a second composite alignment region on the other substrate, and a step of bonding the pair of substrates with the composite alignment region facing each other. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, comprising: 9. After bonding the pair of substrates, liquid crystal is injected between the pair of substrates to form a liquid crystal alignment region between the first composite alignment region and the second composite alignment region. 9. The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 8, comprising a step. 10. An electronic apparatus comprising said liquid crystal device.