Patterned Photoalignment in Thin Films: Physics and Applications
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Diffusion Mechanism of Photoalignment
3. Patterned Alignment
3.1. LC Q-plates
3.2. Reconfigurable Optical Paths
4. Applications of Photoalignment in Device Development
4.1. Simulation-Based Performance of Optically Rewritable e-paper
4.2. Optically Driven Color LC Displays
4.3. Dammann Gratings
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Tabiryan, N.V.; Khoo, I.C. Recent advances in nematic liquid crystal nonlinear optics. Handb. Liq. Cryst. 2014, 8, 1–21. [Google Scholar]
- Bos, P. Fast-switching liquid-crystal effects for displays. Inf. Disp. 2007, 23, 20. [Google Scholar]
- He, Z.; Tan, G.; Chanda, D.; Wu, S.-T. Novel liquid crystal photonic devices enabled by two-photon polymerization. Opt. Express 2019, 27, 11472–11491. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Yin, K.; Xiong, J.; He, Z.; Wu, S.-T. Patterning liquid-crystal alignment for ultrathin flat optics. ACS Omega 2020, 5, 31485–31489. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Guo, Q.; Srivastava, A.K.; Pozhidaev, E.P.; Chigrinov, V.G.; Kwok, H.S. Optimization of alignment quality of ferroelectric liquid crystals by controlling anchoring energy. Appl. Phys. Express 2014, 7, 021701. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Finnemeyer, V.; Bryant, D.; Reich, R.; Clark, H.; Berry, S.; Bozler, C.; Yaroshchuk, O.; Lu, L.; Bos, P. Versatile alignment layer method for new types of liquid crystal photonic devices. J. Appl. Phys. 2015, 118, 034501. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- O’Neill, M.; Kelly, S. Photoinduced surface alignment for liquid crystal displays. J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 2000, 33, R67. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Van Aerle, N.; Barmentlo, M.; Hollering, R. Effect of rubbing on the molecular orientation within polyimide orienting layers of liquid-crystal displays. J. Appl. Phys. 1993, 74, 3111–3120. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ichimura, K.; Suzuki, Y.; Seki, T.; Hosoki, A.; Aoki, K. Reversible change in alignment mode of nematic liquid crystals regulated photochemically by command surfaces modified with an azobenzene monolayer. Langmuir 1988, 4, 1214–1216. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Yin, Y.; Li, W.; Cao, H.; Guo, J.; Li, B.; He, S.; Ouyang, C.; Cao, M.; Huang, H.; Yang, H. Effects of monomer structure on the morphology of polymer network and the electro-optical property of reverse-mode polymer-stabilized cholesteric texture. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2009, 111, 1353–1357. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wang, J.; McGinty, C.; Reich, R.; Finnemeyer, V.; Clark, H.; Berry, S.; Bos, P. Process for a reactive monomer alignment layer for liquid crystals formed on an azodye sublayer. Materials 2018, 11, 1195. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Armitage, D. Alignment of liquid crystals on obliquely evaporated silicon oxide films. J. Appl. Phys. 1980, 51, 2552–2555. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Guo, Q.; Srivastava, A.K.; Chigrinov, V.G.; Kwok, H.S. Stabilized Photo-Alignment Layer for Liquid Crystal. U.S. Patent No. 9,791,743, 17 October 2017. [Google Scholar]
- Sun, J.; Chigrinov, V. Effect of azo dye layer on rewriting speed of optical rewritable E-paper. Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 2012, 561, 1–7. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Chigrinov, V.; Guo, Q.; Kudreyko, A. Photo-aligned ferroelectric liquid crystal devices with novel electro-optic characteristics. Crystals 2020, 10, 563. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Benoit, H. Study of the Kerr effect by dilute solutions of rigid macromolecules. Ann. Phys. (Paris) 1951, 6, 561–609. [Google Scholar]
- Morita, A.; Watanabe, H. An exact treatment of the Kerr-effect relaxation in a strong unidirectional electric field. J. Chem. Phys. 1979, 70, 4708–4713. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Chigrinov, V.; Pikin, S.; Verevochnikov, A.; Kozenkov, V.; Khazimullin, M.; Ho, J.; Huang, D.D.; Kwok, H.-S. Diffusion model of photoaligning in azo-dye layers. Phys. Rev. E 2004, 69, 061713. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Youngworth, K.S.; Brown, T.G. Focusing of high numerical aperture cylindrical-vector beams. Opt. Express 2000, 7, 77–87. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lerman, G.M.; Yanai, A.; Levy, U. Demonstration of nanofocusing by the use of plasmonic lens illuminated with radially polarized light. Nano Lett. 2009, 9, 2139–2143. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Davis, J.A.; Hashimoto, N.; Kurihara, M.; Hurtado, E.; Pierce, M.; Sánchez-López, M.M.; Badham, K.; Moreno, I. Analysis of a segmented q-plate tunable retarder for the generation of first-order vector beams. Appl Opt. 2015, 54, 9583–9590. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kim, J.; Li, Y.; Miskiewicz, M.N.; Oh, C.; Kudenov, M.W.; Escuti, M.J. Fabrication of ideal geometric-phase holograms with arbitrary wavefronts. Optica 2015, 2, 958–964. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Slussarenko, S.; Murauski, A.; Du, T.; Chigrinov, V.; Marrucci, L.; Santamato, E. Tunable liquid crystal q-plates with arbitrary topological charge. Opt. Express 2011, 19, 4085–4090. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Ito, T.; Okazaki, S. Pushing the limits of lithography. Nature 2000, 406, 1027–1031. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Chen, P.; Ji, W.; Wei, B.-Y.; Hu, W.; Chigrinov, V.; Lu, Y.-Q. Generation of arbitrary vector beams with liquid crystal polarization converters and vector-photoaligned q-plates. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2015, 107, 241102. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Yeh, P.; Gu, C. Optics of Liquid Crystal Displays; John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2009; Volume 67. [Google Scholar]
- Wu, H.; Hu, W.; Hu, H.-C.; Lin, X.-W.; Zhu, G.; Choi, J.-W.; Chigrinov, V.; Lu, Y.-Q. Arbitrary photo-patterning in liquid crystal alignments using DMD based lithography system. Opt. Express 2012, 20, 16684–16689. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Ren, H.; Wu, S.-T. Tunable electronic lens using a gradient polymer network liquid crystal. Appl Phys. Lett. 2003, 82, 22–24. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Schadt, M.; Seiberle, H.; Schuster, A.; Kelly, S.M. Photo-generation of linearly polymerized liquid crystal aligning layers comprising novel, integrated optically patterned retarders and color filters. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 1995, 34, 3240. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Yan, J.; Rao, L.; Jiao, M.; Li, Y.; Cheng, H.-C.; Wu, S.-T. Polymer-stabilized optically isotropic liquid crystals for next-generation display and photonics applications. J. Mater. Chem. 2011, 21, 7870–7877. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhan, Q. Cylindrical vector beams: From mathematical concepts to applications. Adv. Opt. Photonics 2009, 1, 1–57. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Yao, A.M.; Padgett, M.J. Orbital angular momentum: Origins, behavior and applications. Adv. Opt. Photonics 2011, 3, 161–204. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Yi, X.; Ling, X.; Zhang, Z.; Li, Y.; Zhou, X.; Liu, Y.; Chen, S.; Luo, H.; Wen, S. Generation of cylindrical vector vortex beams by two cascaded metasurfaces. Opt. Express 2014, 22, 17207–17215. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Tang, M.-J.; Chen, P.; Zhang, W.-L.; Tam, A.M.; Chigrinov, V.G.; Hu, W.; Lu, Y.-Q. Integrated and reconfigurable optical paths based on stacking optical functional films. Opt. Express 2016, 24, 25510–25514. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Denisenko, V.; Shvedov, V.; Desyatnikov, A.S.; Neshev, D.N.; Krolikowski, W.; Volyar, A.; Soskin, M.; Kivshar, Y.S. Determination of topological charges of polychromatic optical vortices. Opt. Express 2009, 17, 23374–23379. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Heikenfeld, J.; Zhou, K.; Kreit, E.; Raj, B.; Yang, S.; Sun, B.; Milarcik, A.; Clapp, L.; Schwartz, R. Electrofluidic displays using Young–Laplace transposition of brilliant pigment dispersions. Nat. Photonics 2009, 3, 292–296. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Chigrinov, V.G.; Yakovlev, D.; Kwok, H.S. Optimization and modeling of liquid-crystal displays. Inf. Disp. 2004, 20, 26. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Yakovlev, D.A.; Simonenko, G.V.; Tsoi, V.I.; Chigrinov, V.G.; Khokhlov, N.A.; Podyachev, Y.B. LCD-DESIGN: Universal system for computer simulation and optimization of electro-optical devices on the base of liquid crystals. In Proceedings of the Saratov Fall Meeting 2001: Coherent Optics of Ordered and Random Media II, Saratov, Russia, 2–5 October 2001; pp. 255–263. [Google Scholar]
- Yakovlev, D.A.; Chigrinov, V.G.; Kwok, H.-S. Modeling and Optimization of LCD Optical Performance; John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2015. [Google Scholar]
- Geng, Y.; Yao, L. Effect of azimuthal anchoring energy on rewriting speed of optical rewritable e-paper. Liq. Cryst. 2020, 1–7. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wang, L.; Sun, J.; Liu, H.; Chigrinov, V.; Kwok, H.S. Increasing the rewriting speed of ORW e-paper by electric field. Liq. Cryst. 2018, 45, 553–560. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sun, J.; Ren, L.; Deng, K.; Wang, T.; Guo, Q.; Sang, J.; Liu, Y.; Liu, H.; Shang, J.; Chigrinov, V. Greyscale generation for optically driving liquid crystal display. Liq. Cryst. 2019, 46, 1340–1344. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Chigrinov, V.G.; Kudreyko, A.A. Tunable optical properties for ORW e-paper. Liq. Cryst. 2020, 1–5. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sun, J.; Deng, K.; Sang, J.; Gong, X.; Liu, Y.; Shang, J.; Liu, H.; Zhang, Y.; Guo, Q.; Chigrinov, V. The effect of chiral dopant on the rewriting speed of optically driving liquid crystal display. Liq. Cryst. 2020, 47, 516–521. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ma, Y.; Xin, S.J.; Liu, X.; Liu, Y.; Sun, J.; Wang, X.; Guo, Q.; Chigrinov, V.G. Colour generation for optically driving liquid crystal display. Liq. Cryst. 2020, 47, 1729–1734. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Fattal, D.; Peng, Z.; Tran, T.; Vo, S.; Fiorentino, M.; Brug, J.; Beausoleil, R.G. A multi-directional backlight for a wide-angle, glasses-free three-dimensional display. Nature 2013, 495, 348–351. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Chen, H.; Weng, Y.; Xu, D.; Tabiryan, N.V.; Wu, S.T. Beam steering for virtual/augmented reality displays with a cycloidal diffractive waveplate. Opt. Express 2016, 24, 7287–7298. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Khorasaninejad, M.; Capasso, F. Metalenses: Versatile multifunctional photonic components. Science 2017, 358. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Serak, S.V.; Roberts, D.E.; Hwang, J.-Y.; Nersisyan, S.R.; Tabiryan, N.V.; Bunning, T.J.; Steeves, D.M.; Kimball, B.R. Diffractive waveplate arrays [Invited]. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 2017, 34. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Dammann, H.; Görtler, K. High-efficiency in-line multiple imaging by means of multiple phase holograms. Opt. Commun. 1971, 3, 312–315. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Veldkamp, W.B.; Leger, J.R.; Swanson, G.J. Coherent summation of laser beams using binary phase gratings. Opt. Lett. 1986, 11, 303–305. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Morrison, R.L.; Walker, S.L.; Cloonan, T.J. Beam array generation and holographic interconnections in a free-space optical switching network. Appl Opt. 1993, 32, 2512–2518. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Yu, J.; Zhou, C.; Jia, W.; Ma, J.; Hu, A.; Wu, J.; Wang, S. Distorted dammann grating. Opt. Lett. 2013, 38, 474–476. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Davis, J.A.; Moreno, I.; Martínez, J.L.; Hernandez, T.J.; Cottrell, D.M. Creating three-dimensional lattice patterns using programmable Dammann gratings. Appl Opt. 2011, 50, 3653–3657. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ge, S.-J.; Chen, P.; Ma, L.-L.; Liu, Z.; Zheng, Z.-G.; Shen, D.; Hu, W.; Lu, Y.-Q. Optical array generator based on blue phase liquid crystal Dammann grating. Opt. Mater. Express 2016, 6, 1087–1092. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Doh, K.B.; Dobson, K.; Poon, T.C.; Chung, P.S. Optical image coding with a circular Dammann grating. Appl. Opt. 2009, 48, 134–139. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Shinoda, Y.; Liu, J.P.; Chung, P.S.; Dobson, K.; Zhou, X.; Poon, T.C. Three-dimensional complex image coding using a circular Dammann grating. Appl. Opt. 2011, 50, B38–B45. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Zhao, S.; Chung, P.S. Collimation testing using a circular Dammann grating. Opt. Commun. 2007, 279, 1–6. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhang, Y.; Gao, N.; Xie, C. Using circular Dammann gratings to produce impulse optic vortex rings. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2012, 100. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Xu, Y.; Han, X.; Li, G.; Liu, J.; Xia, K.; Li, J. Vortex and LG01-mode Nd:YAG laser involving a circular Dammann grating. Opt. Eng. 2016, 55. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wen, F.J.; Chen, Z.; Chung, P.S. Area measurement at long-distance using a circular Dammann grating. Appl. Opt. 2010, 49, 648–652. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Wen, F.J.; Chung, P.S. Use of the circular Dammann grating in angle measurement. Appl. Opt. 2008, 47, 5197–5200. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhou, C.; Jia, J.; Liu, L. Circular Dammann grating. Opt. Lett. 2003, 28, 2174–2176. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhao, S.; Chung, P.S. Design of a circular Dammann grating. Opt. Lett. 2006, 31, 2387–2389. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Levy, U.; Desiatov, B.; Goykhman, I.; Nachmias, T.; Ohayon, A.; Meltzer, S.E. Design, fabrication, and characterization of circular Dammann gratings based on grayscale lithography. Opt. Lett. 2010, 35, 880–882. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Pozhidaev, E.; Minchenko, M.; Molkin, V.; Torgova, S.; Srivastava, A.; Chigrinov, V.; Kwok, H.; Vashenko, V.; Krivoshey, A. High frequency low voltage shock-free ferroelectric liquid crystal: A new electro-optical mode with electrically suppressed helix. In Proceedings of the 31th International Display Research Conference EuroDisplay, Arcachon, France, 19–22 September 2011; pp. 19–22. [Google Scholar]
- Fan, F.; Yao, L.; Wang, X.; Shi, L.; Srivastava, A.K.; Chigrinov, V.G.; Kwok, H.-S.; Wen, S. Ferroelectric liquid crystal dammann grating by patterned photoalignment. Crystals 2017, 7, 79. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Luo, D.; Sun, X.W.; Dai, H.T.; Demir, H.V. Polarization-dependent circular Dammann grating made of azo-dye-doped liquid crystals. Appl. Opt. 2011, 50, 2316–2321. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Guo, Q.; Srivastava, A.K.; Chigrinov, V.G.; Kwok, H.S. Polymer and azo-dye composite: A photo-alignment layer for liquid crystals. Liq. Cryst. 2014, 41, 1465–1472. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Shteyner, E.A.; Srivastava, A.K.; Chigrinov, V.G.; Kwok, H.-S.; Afanasyev, A.D. Submicron-scale liquid crystal photo-alignment. Soft Matter 2013, 9. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Guo, Q.; Liu, T.; Wang, X.; Zheng, Z.; Kudreyko, A.; Zhao, H.; Chigrinov, V.; Kwok, H.-S. Ferroelectric liquid crystals for fast switchable circular Dammann grating. Chin. Opt. Lett. 2020, 18, 080002. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Twist angle | 0° | 15° | 30° | 45° | 55° | 70° | 80° | 90° |
Reflectance | 0.031 | 0.0571 | 0.1638 | 0.2579 | 0.3202 | 0.3855 | 0.418 | 0.4302 |
Generated shades of grey | | | | | | | | |
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. |
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Chigrinov, V.; Kudreyko, A.; Guo, Q. Patterned Photoalignment in Thin Films: Physics and Applications. Crystals 2021, 11, 84. https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst11020084
Chigrinov V, Kudreyko A, Guo Q. Patterned Photoalignment in Thin Films: Physics and Applications. Crystals. 2021; 11(2):84. https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst11020084
Chicago/Turabian StyleChigrinov, Vladimir, Aleksey Kudreyko, and Qi Guo. 2021. "Patterned Photoalignment in Thin Films: Physics and Applications" Crystals 11, no. 2: 84. https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst11020084