JPS61208034A - Liquid crystal element - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve a preliminary orientation by providing plural structural elements having stripe-like side walls on one of substrates, and by orientating the another one of the substrates in about a parallel or a vertical direction against the extended direction of said structural elements, and by using a specific liquid crystal compd. CONSTITUTION:A plural structural elements 104 having the stripe-like side walls 106, 107 are arranged on one of the substrate 101 of a pair of electrode substrate 101, 110. The another substrate 110 is uniaxially oriented in about a parallel or a vertical direction against the extended direction of the element 104, and the Sm phase of the liquid crystal compd. or the liquid crystal composition contg. therein shown by the formula wherein R is an alkoxy or an alkyl group, R* is an optical active group having an asymmetric carbon atom, and also phase changed from the phase lying at a higher temperature side than that of the Sm phase, is formed on the another substrate. By constituting the titled element as mentioned above, the liquid crystal element having the structure compatible with both the operation of the element due to the phase stability of the ferroelectricity liquid crystal and the monodomain property of the liquid crystal 105 may be obtd., thereby enabling to remove a defect on the spacer edge, even if, in a memory state liable to generating the defect.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a liquid crystal element applied to a liquid crystal display element, a liquid crystal-optical shutter array, etc., and more specifically, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal element applied to a liquid crystal display element, a liquid crystal-optical shutter array, etc. This invention relates to a liquid crystal element with improved driving characteristics.

[Conventional technology]

As a conventional liquid crystal element, for example, M-Shut ('
M, 5chadt) and W.
, He I f r i ch) ``Applied φ
Applied Phy
Volume 18, No. 4 (published February 15, 1971), pp. 127-12
Pavoltage Dependent Optical on page 8
Activity of a Twisted φ Nematic Liquid 0 Crystal” (“Voltage D
pendent Optical Activity
ofa Twisted Nematic Li
twisted fist nematic shown in “quid Crystal”
One that uses liquid crystal is known.

When time-division driving is performed using this TN droplet liquid crystal and a matrix electrode structure with high pixel density, the number of pixels is limited due to the problem of crosstalk.

Furthermore, a display element is known in which a switching element using a thin film transistor is connected to each pixel, and each pixel is switched. However, the process of forming the thin film transistor on the substrate is extremely complicated, and it is difficult to use a display element with a large area. There are some problems that make it difficult to create.

To improve the drawbacks of conventional liquid crystal devices, the use of bistable liquid crystal devices is proposed by Clark (C1
ark) and Lagauer (Lage rwa l l
) (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 56-107216, US Pat. No. 4,367,924, etc.). As a liquid crystal having bistability, a ferroelectric liquid crystal having a chiral smectic C phase (SmC'') or H phase (SmH'') is generally used.

This liquid crystal has a bistable state consisting of a first optically stable state and a second optically stable state with respect to an electric field. Therefore, unlike the optical modulation element used in the TN type liquid crystal described above, for example, one The liquid crystal is aligned in a first optically stable state with respect to the electric field vector, and the liquid crystal is aligned in a second optically stable state with respect to the other electric field vector. In addition, this type of liquid crystal responds to an applied electric field and very quickly responds to the above-mentioned
It has the property of taking one of two stable states and maintaining that state when no electric field is applied. By utilizing such properties, many of the problems of the conventional TN type device described above can be significantly improved. This point will be explained in more detail below in connection with the present invention. However, in order for this ferroelectric liquid crystal with bistability to exhibit predetermined driving characteristics, the liquid crystal placed between a pair of parallel substrates must be in the above two stable states, regardless of the applied state of the electric field. It is necessary that the molecules be arranged in such a state that conversion between them can occur effectively.

For example, for a ferroelectric liquid crystal having a SmC" or SmH" phase, the liquid crystal molecular layer having an SmC" or SmH" phase is perpendicular to the substrate surface, and therefore the liquid crystal molecular axes are aligned approximately parallel to the substrate surface. A monodomain (monodomain) needs to be formed. However, in conventional ferroelectric liquid crystal devices with bistability, the alignment state of the liquid crystal with such a domain structure was not always formed satisfactorily, so the actual situation was that sufficient characteristics could not be obtained. It is.

For example, according to C1ark et al., methods of applying a magnetic field, methods of applying a shear force, and methods of applying a parallel ridge between the substrates in order to provide such an orientation state are described.
) have been proposed. However, none of these methods necessarily gave satisfactory results. For example, the method of applying a magnetic field is
There are disadvantages in that it requires large-scale equipment and is incompatible with thin-layer cells with good operating characteristics.Also, the method of applying shear force is incompatible with the method of injecting liquid crystal after creating the cell. There are some difficulties. Further, the method of arranging parallel apertures within the cell cannot provide a stable alignment effect by itself.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, an object of the present invention is to develop a ferroelectric material which has potential suitability as a display element having high-speed response, high-density pixels and a large area, or an optical shutter having a high-speed shirt tanupide. The object of the present invention is to provide a ferroelectric liquid crystal element that can fully exhibit its characteristics by improving monodomain formation or initial alignment, which has been a problem in the past in liquid crystal elements.

[Effect]

As a result of research in line with the above-mentioned objective, the present inventors have found that the surface of at least one of a pair of parallel substrates sandwiching a liquid crystal has a uniaxial alignment treatment effect by rubbing etc. In addition to using the effect of arranging structural members having shaped side walls, the following general formula (1)
The smectic phase of the liquid crystal compound represented by or the liquid crystal composition containing the same, such as SmA (smectic A phase) and chiral smectic phase, is combined with a phase on the higher temperature side of the smectic phase, such as cholesteric phase (chiral nematic phase), nematic phase, etc. When using phase transition from the Tokichi phase through slow cooling, a smectic phase monodomain can be formed, resulting in the operation of devices based on the bistability of ferroelectric liquid crystals and the monodomain nature of the liquid crystal layer. It has been found that a liquid crystal element having a structure that can satisfy both of the following has been obtained.

(In the formula, R is an alkoxy group or an alkyl group, and R*
is an optically active group having an asymmetric carbon atom. ) [Means for solving the problems] The liquid crystal element of the present invention is based on the above-mentioned findings,
More specifically, in a liquid crystal element in which a liquid crystal is sandwiched between a pair of parallel substrates, the $1 substrate of the pair of parallel substrates has a plurality of structures each having a side wall on the side that contacts the liquid crystal. The members are arranged in a stripe pattern, and the surface of the second substrate in contact with the liquid crystal is subjected to uniaxial alignment treatment in a direction substantially parallel or perpendicular to the extending direction of the plurality of structural members on the first substrate. In addition, the smectic phase of the liquid crystal compound represented by the above-mentioned general formula (1) or the liquid crystal composition containing the same is formed by a phase transition due to gradual cooling from a phase on the higher temperature side than the smectic phase. It has characteristics.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the drawings as necessary.

The liquid crystal used in the present invention has ferroelectricity, and specifically has a chiral smectic C phase (SmC").
, H phase (S'mH”), I phase (SmI”), J phase (Sm
A liquid crystal having a phase (SmKχ), a G phase (SmC powder), or an F phase (SmF powder) can be used.

R in the general formula (1) is an alkoxy group or an alkyl group, and may be a straight chain, a branched chain, or a cyclo ring. especially,
A straight chain alkoxy group (CnH2n+tO) is preferred,
Those having a carbon number n of 1 to 18 are suitable. Also, H in the formula
z is an optically active group having an asymmetric carbon atom, and particularly preferred is a residue of the following formula (2) or (3).

Formula (2) % Formula % Formula (3) CH3 -CH-C6H13 Tree The compound represented by the above-mentioned general formula (1) can be obtained, for example, by the composite disclosed in JP-A-59-98051. .

Specific examples of the compound represented by the general formula (1) are as follows.

CH3 CH2-CH-C2H5 tree (n = 4.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,
14, 16.18) (n=4, 8) These liquid crystals can be used alone or in combination of two or more, and other ferroelectric liquid crystals such as jfDOBAMBc
, decyloxybenzylidene-y-amino-2-methylbutylcinnamate, HOBACPC; hexyloxybenzylidene-y-amino-2-chloropropylcinnamate, etc. to obtain good results.

When constructing an element using these materials, the element is supported by a copper block with a heater embedded, etc., as necessary, in order to maintain the temperature state such that the liquid crystal compound becomes the SmC" phase or SmH" phase. be able to.

FIG. 1 schematically depicts an example of a cell for explaining the operation of a ferroelectric liquid crystal. 21a and 21. b is I
n203.5n02 or ITO (Tndium-
It is a substrate (glass plate) coated with a transparent electrode made of a thin film such as Tin Oxide, and a liquid crystal of the SmC" phase or SmH" phase with the liquid crystal molecular layer 22 oriented perpendicular to the glass surface is sealed between the substrates (glass plates). ing. A thick line 23 represents a liquid crystal molecule, and this liquid crystal molecule 23 has a dipole moment (P) 24 in a direction perpendicular to the molecule.
have.

When a voltage equal to or higher than a certain threshold is applied between the electrodes on the substrates 21a and 21b, the helical structure of the liquid crystal molecules 23 is unraveled, and the liquid crystal molecules 23 are twisted so that all the dipole molecules 24 are oriented in the direction of the electric field. can change the orientation direction.

The liquid crystal molecules 23 have an elongated shape and exhibit refractive index anisotropy in the long axis direction and the short axis direction. Therefore, for example, if crossed Nicol polarizers are placed above and below the glass surface, the polarity of the applied voltage changes. It is easily understood that this results in a liquid crystal optical modulation element whose optical properties change.

The liquid crystal cell preferably used in the liquid crystal element of the present invention can have a sufficiently thin thickness (for example, 10 IL or less), and as the liquid crystal layer becomes thinner in this way,
As shown in Figure 2, even when no electric field is applied, the helical structure of the liquid crystal molecules unwinds and assumes a non-helical structure, and its dipole moment (Pa or pb) is either upward (34a) or downward (34b). takes the state of When an electric field Ea or Eb of different polarity above a certain threshold value is applied to such a cell by the voltage applying means 31a and 31b as shown in FIG. 2, the dipole moment is
The upward direction 34a or the downward direction 34 corresponds to the electric field vector of
b, and accordingly, the liquid crystal molecules are oriented to either the first stable state 33a or the second stable state 33b.

As mentioned earlier, there are two advantages to using such ferroelectricity as an optical modulation element.

The first is that the response speed is extremely fast, and the second is that the alignment of liquid crystal molecules has bistability. To further explain the second point, for example with reference to FIG. 2, the electric field Ea
When the voltage is applied, the liquid crystal molecules are aligned in a first stable state 33a, and this state remains stable even when the electric field is turned off. When an electric field Eb in the opposite direction is applied, the liquid crystal molecules are oriented to a second stable state 33b and change their orientation, but they remain in this state even after the electric field is turned off. Further, as long as the applied electric field Ea does not exceed a certain threshold value, each orientation state is maintained. In order to effectively realize such fast response speed and bistability, it is preferable that the cell be as thin as possible.

The biggest problem in forming devices using liquid crystals with such ferroelectricity is, as mentioned earlier, that SmC
It is difficult to form a highly monodomain cell in which a layer having a "phase or SmH" phase is aligned perpendicular to the substrate surface and liquid crystal molecules are aligned approximately parallel to the substrate surface, and this It is the main objective of the present invention to provide a solution to this point.

FIGS. 3(A) to 3(C) show an embodiment of the liquid crystal element of the present invention. FIG. 3(A) is a perspective view of the same embodiment, FIG. 3(B) is a side sectional view thereof, and FIG. 3(C) is a front sectional view thereof. However, in Figure 3 (A),
Illustrations of liquid crystal and polarizer are omitted.

In FIGS. 3(A)-(C), a plurality of electrodes 1 are placed on a substrate 101 made of a glass plate, a plastic plate, etc.
A group of electrodes (eg, constituting a group of scanning electrodes) consisting of 02 is formed in a predetermined pattern by etching or the like. Furthermore.

A plurality of side walls 106 and 107 are arranged in a stripe shape in a positional relationship that is alternately and parallel to these electrodes 102.
A spacer member 104 is formed.

An insulating film 103 is formed covering the electrode 102 except for the area where the spacer member 104 is formed on the substrate 101 .

The spacer member 104 is made of polyvinyl alcohol, for example.
Polyimide, polyamideimide, polyesterimide,
Polyparaxylylene.

Resins such as polyester, polycarbonate, polyvinyl acetal, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, polyamide, polystyrene, cellulose resin, melamine resin, Urya resin, acrylic resin, or photosensitive polyimide, photosensitive polyamide, cyclized rubber photoresist , phenol novolac photoresist, or electron beam photoresist (polymethyl methacrylate, epoxidized-1,4-polybutadiene, etc.).

The insulating film 103 has a function of preventing charge injection from the electrode 102 to the liquid crystal layer, and is made of silicon oxide, silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide, zirconia, magnesium fluoride, cerium oxide, cerium fluoride, silicon nitride, etc. It can be obtained by forming a film by vapor deposition using a compound such as silicon carbide or boron nitride. In addition, for example, polyvinyl alcohol, polyimide, polyamideimide, polyesterimide, polyparaxylylene, polyester, polycarbonate, polyvinyl acetal, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, polyamide, polystyrene, cellulose resin, melamine resin, urea resin, and acrylic resin. It can also be formed as a coating film of resins such as. The thickness of the insulating film 103 depends on the ability of the material to prevent charge injection and the thickness of the liquid crystal layer, but is usually set in the range of 50 to 5, preferably SOOλ to 5,000. On the other hand, the thickness of the liquid crystal layer is determined by the height of the spacer member 104, and is preferably 0.21 L to 200 g, although it depends on the ease of alignment peculiar to the liquid crystal material and the response speed required for the device. is set in the range of 0.5 l to 10 l. Moreover, the spacer member 104
The width is usually set in the range of 0.5 to 50 liters, preferably 1 to 20 liters. If the pitch (distance) of the spacer members 104 is too large, uniform orientation of liquid crystal molecules will be inhibited; on the other hand, if it is too small, the effective area of the liquid crystal optical element will be reduced. For this reason, it is usually between 10m and 2m.
m, preferably in the range of 50 to 700 IL.

These spacer members 104 are formed into predetermined patterns and dimensions by various printing methods such as screen printing, or more preferably by techniques such as photolithography and electron beam lithography.

The liquid crystal element of the present invention includes the substrate 101 processed as described above and another substrate 110 stacked in parallel, and a plurality of electrodes (for example, signal electrodes) 111 are provided on this substrate 110. Further, an insulating film 112 is formed on the electrode group. Multiple (signal) electrodes 11
1 and the other plurality of (scanning) electrodes 102 can be wired in a matrix structure. The insulating film 112 on the substrate 110 is similar to the insulating film 103 described above.
According to the present invention, the plane 113 formed by the insulating film 112 of this substrate ioi has a uniaxial orientation. The orientation direction is approximately parallel to the extending direction of the spacer member 104 on the substrate 101 (that is, the angle between these two directions is θ, preferably O0≦θ<15°) or perpendicular (
Preferably, 806<θ<100'). On this occasion,
A liquid crystal cell in which the angle θ formed by these two directions is perpendicular to each other has a greater tendency to cause alignment defects than a liquid crystal cell in which the angle θ is parallel. In this case, a liquid crystal cell in which the angle θ is parallel can form a monodomain free of alignment defects than a liquid crystal cell in which the angle θ is perpendicular. According to research by the present inventors, if such parallel or orthogonal relationships are not satisfied, the alignment of liquid crystal molecules at the edge portion of the spacer may be disturbed, and in cells with memory function,
A phenomenon occurs in which switching between bistable states is not performed properly. However, as can be seen from the expression of the range of θ mentioned above, a deviation of up to about 15° poses no practical problem.As is well known for TN type liquid crystal cells, such uniaxial alignment treatment be rubbed with velvet, cloth or paper, or coated with an insulating film 112.
This can be achieved by the oblique vapor deposition method.

Although the above-described uniaxial alignment treatment basically does not need to be performed on the substrate 101, it can be performed on the substrate 101 as well.

In this case, after a uniaxial orientation treatment that is substantially parallel or orthogonal to the extending direction of the spacer member 104.

The insulating film 103 is formed by vapor deposition, or the insulating film 1
After forming the spacer member 104, a uniaxial orientation treatment is performed, and then the effect of the orientation treatment on the surface 108 of the insulating film 103 is selectively removed.
It is desirable to selectively impart an alignment treatment effect to 07 in order to increase the response speed of the obtained liquid crystal element.

The liquid crystal element of the present invention includes a pair of parallel substrates 101 and 110.
A pair of polarizing means (polarizer 114 and analyzer 115) sandwiching the substrates 101 and 110 can be used. As the polarizer 114 and the analyzer 115, ordinary polarizing plates, polarizing films, or polarizing beam splitters can be used. In this case, the polarizing means can be arranged in a crossed Nicols state or a parallel Nicols state. be.

In the liquid crystal element of the present invention, a pair of parallel substrates are fixed so as to satisfy the mutual relationship between the extension direction of the spacer member and the uniaxial alignment treatment direction, and their periphery is sealed with an epoxy adhesive or low melting point glass. After that, a ferroelectric liquid crystal is sealed and heated to an isotropic phase, and then slowly cooled while precisely controlling the temperature.

In the above, the liquid crystal element of the present invention has been explained based on a preferred embodiment thereof. However, within the scope of the present invention, the above embodiments can be modified in various ways.
It's easy to understand. For example, the member described as the spacer member 104 in the above example can also function as a spacer member by contacting both of the pair of parallel substrates, if it has a side wall to exert the necessary wall effect on the liquid crystal. You don't have to.

However, as can be seen from the above example, the spacer member is an example of a preferable structural member, and it is also possible to use a modified stripe-shaped spacer in which the spacer member 104 is arranged in a dot shape along a straight line. Further, the electrodes are not limited to the above-described simple striped matrix electrodes, but may be formed in other shapes, for example, electrode wiring having a 7-segment structure.

Hereinafter, a specific manufacturing example of the optical modulation element of the present invention will be described.

Example 1 A pair of ITO (Indiun-Tin-0x
A polyimide film having a thickness of about 1,500 layers was formed on one side of the substrate on which a striped pattern electrode was formed, and rubbed in one direction. A polyimide film with a thickness of 2 gm was formed on the other substrate, and striped spacers with a width of 207 zm at a pitch of 200 pm were formed by photoetching.

As the polyimide, 5P-510 manufactured by Toshisha Co., Ltd. was used, and a solution of its N-methylpyrrolidone was applied by dipping or spinner coating to form a polyimide film.

Etching was performed using a mixture of hydrazine and Na0H=l:1 as an etching solution, and heating it to 30°C.
The substrate on which the polyimide film was formed was immersed for 3 minutes to perform etching.

A liquid crystal cell (cell thickness: 2 μm) was constructed by aligning the direction of the striped spacer and the rubbing direction of the pair of electrode substrates created in the above steps almost parallel to each other. After injecting A, the temperature of the cell was slowly cooled at a rate of 5° C./temperature to create an SmC* liquid crystal cell. When this liquid crystal cell of Sm(, * was observed with a polarizing microscope, it was found that a monodomain with a non-helical structure without any alignment defects was formed.

30% by weight 40% by weight 30% by weight Example 2 The above example! In place of composition A used in , the following composition B
A liquid crystal cell was prepared in the same manner as in the example except that a liquid crystal cell of SmC* was observed using a polarizing microscope. The format of the domain has been confirmed.

c B H170→mu-CH=to-CH=50% by weight Example 3 A polyimide film with a thickness of about 1500 was formed on one of the substrates on which a pair of striped pattern electrodes made of ITO were formed. , rubbed in one direction. A polyimide film with a thickness of 21 Lm was formed on the other substrate, and a width of 201 Lm was formed at a pitch of 200 ILm by photoetching.
Lm striped spacers were formed and rubbed in parallel to the direction of the striped spacers.

The polyimide is 5P-5t manufactured by Toshisha.

A polyimide film was formed by applying the N-methylpyrrolidone solution by dipping or spinner coating.

Etching was performed using a mixture of hydrazine and Na0H=1=1 as an etching solution, and heating it to 30°C.
The substrate on which the polyimide film was formed was immersed for 3 minutes to perform etching.

A pair of electrode substrates created using the above process.

A liquid crystal cell (cell thickness: 2 m) was constructed by making the direction of the striped spacer and the rubbing direction substantially parallel to each other.

After injecting Composition A of the Tokichi phase used in Example 1 into this liquid crystal cell, the temperature of the cell was slowly cooled at a rate of 5° C./hour,
A 5tnC* liquid crystal cell was created. When this S m C* liquid crystal cell was observed with a polarizing microscope, it was found that a monodomain with a non-helical structure without any alignment defects was formed.

Example 4 In Example 1, a liquid crystal cell was constructed in the same manner as in Example 1, except that a pair of substrates were combined so that the direction of their rubbing treatment was perpendicular to the extension direction of the striped spacer.

When this liquid crystal cell was observed using a polarizing microscope, some alignment defects were observed near the edges of the striped spacers.

Example 5 A polyimide film was formed to a thickness of about 1,000 ml on one side of a substrate on which a pair of striped no-turn electrodes made of ITO were formed, and rubbed in one direction. A polyimide film with a thickness of 2 gm was formed on the other substrate, and a width of 20 mm was formed at a pitch of 200 ILm by photoetching.
pm striped spacers were formed.

As the polyimide, 5P-510 manufactured by Toshisha Co., Ltd. was used, and a solution of its N-methylpyrrolidone was applied by dipping or spinner coating to form a polyimide film.

Etching was carried out using a mixture of hydrazine and Na0H = 1:l as the etching solution, and heating it to 30°C.
The substrate on which the polyimide film was formed was immersed for 3 minutes to perform etching. Next, a polyimide film similar to that described above was formed over the entire surface of the substrate on which the striped spacers were formed. However, the thickness of the polyimide film at this time was set to 0.Next, the surface of this polyimide film was subjected to a rubbing treatment in a direction parallel to the extending direction of the striped spacer.

A pair of electrode substrates created in the above steps are assembled into cells (cell thickness: 2JLm) so that their rubbing directions are parallel to each other.
) Then, composition A under the Tokichi phase was injected into this cell, and an S m C* liquid crystal cell with a non-helical structure was created by slow cooling.

When observed in the same manner as in Example 1, similar results were obtained.

It was found that this liquid crystal cell formed a stable monodomain with no alignment defects in S m C* even after being left for several days, compared to the liquid crystal cells used in other examples.

Furthermore, when this liquid crystal element was driven by applying a pulse signal of 20 V and 1 m5 ec, it was found that the contrast between the bright state and the dark state was greater than that in Example 1.

Comparative Example 1 When assembling the liquid crystal cell of Example 1, the pair of electrode substrates were stacked with the angle θ between the direction of the striped spacer and the rubbing direction set at 25°. A non-helical SmC* liquid crystal cell was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1.

When this SmC'lC liquid crystal cell was observed in the same manner as in Example 1, black streaks caused by countless alignment defects were observed near the edges of the striped spacers, and these black streaks were found to be located near the electrode formation areas. It was found that even if two types of electrode signals having different polarities were applied between the pair of electrodes, the part where the black stripes were formed did not show any bistability.

Seventh Comparison Example 2 An electrode substrate identical to the one on which the striped spacer and polyimide film were provided was prepared when creating the liquid crystal cell of Example 5, and the surface of this polyimide film was coated in the direction of extension of the striped spacer. A rubbing process was performed at an angle of 25°.

Next, one side of the electrode substrate that was the same as that used in Example 5 was prepared, and rubbed in one direction.

These two electrode substrates are stacked so that their rubbing directions are parallel, and then the cell is assembled.A SmC wood liquid crystal cell with a non-helical structure is created in the same manner as in Example 1. When the liquid crystal cell was observed in the same manner as in Example 1, as in Comparative Example 1, alignment defects fatal to a display device were observed.

Furthermore, although an electric signal was applied between the pair of electrodes in the same manner as described above, no bistability was observed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, a structural member (
A uniaxial alignment treatment (e.g., rubbing) is performed on the other substrate, and the direction of the treatment is regulated to be approximately parallel or perpendicular to the structural member. By using the liquid crystal compound shown in 1) or a liquid crystal composition containing the same, defects at the spacer edge can be removed even in a memory state where defects are particularly likely to appear.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a liquid crystal element using chiral smectic liquid crystal. FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing the bistability of the liquid crystal element. Figure 3 (A)
3 is a perspective view of a liquid crystal element of the present invention, FIG. 3(B) is a side sectional view thereof, and FIG. 3(C) is a front sectional view thereof. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Haze (c)

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a liquid crystal element in which a liquid crystal is arranged between a pair of substrates, one of the pair of substrates has a plurality of structural members having sidewalls arranged in a stripe pattern, and At least one of the substrates is subjected to uniaxial alignment treatment in a direction substantially parallel or perpendicular to the extending direction of the plurality of structural members, and a liquid crystal compound represented by the following general formula (1) or a liquid crystal composition containing the same. 1. A liquid crystal device characterized in that a smectic phase of an object is formed by phase transition from a phase on a higher temperature side than the smectic phase. General formula (1) ▲There are mathematical formulas, chemical formulas, tables, etc.▼ (In the formula, R is an alkoxy group or an alkyl group, and R*
is an optically active group having an asymmetric carbon atom. ) (2) The plurality of structural members having the side walls function as stripe-like spacer members between the pair of substrates and have a thickness suitable for imparting bistability to the ferroelectric liquid crystal. The liquid crystal element according to item 1. (3) The angle θ formed between the extension direction of the plurality of structural members having the side walls and the uniaxial orientation processing direction is 0°≦θ<15
2. The liquid crystal element according to claim 1, which satisfies the relationship: 0.degree. or 80.degree.<.theta.<100.degree.