Compensator, liquid crystal display device and retardation foil

• US 5,978,055 A
• Filed: 05/15/1997
• Issued: 11/02/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Stallinga, Sjoerd, Van De Witte, Peter, Broer, Dirk J., Van Haaren, Johannes A. M. M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sikes, William L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHOWDHURY, TARIFUR RASHID
• Application Number:
  US08/857,128
• Time in Patent Office: 901 Days
• Field of Search: 349/117, 349/119
• US Class Current: 349/119
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/3016 involving passive liquid crystal elements optical properties of liquid crystals G02F1/0063; polarising elements associated with active liquid crystal devices G02F1/133528
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133632 with refractive index ellipsoid inclined relative to the LC-layer surface
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2413/105 with varying inclination in thickness direction, e.g. hybrid oriented discotic LC

Abstract

A compensator (for example, for a liquid-crystal display device) comprising a retardation foil with a tilted optical main axis and, in addition, a second optically active layer, can be manufactured in a simple manner by providing the retardation foil and the second layer on different sides of a transparent support.

Claims

1. A compensator comprising a light-transmitting support, a first retardation foil provided on a first surface of said support and a second retardation foil provided on a second, opposite, surface of said support, at least one optical axis of said first retardation foil being tilted relative to the normal to a surface of said first retardation foil.

2. A compensator as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the second retardation foil has at least one optical main axis which is tilted relative to the normal to a surface of the second retardation foil.

3. A compensator as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that, viewed at right angles to the support, the optical main axes of the retardation foils cross each other substantially at right angles.

4. A compensator as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the second retardation foil is a uniaxial foil whose optical main axis extends parallel to the surface of the support.

5. A compensator as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that at least one retardation foil predominantly comprises polymerized or vitrified, nematic liquid-crystalline material, the liquid-crystal molecules in the polymerized or vitrified liquid-crystalline material being oriented parallel to the optical main axis and exhibiting a tilt angle relative to a surface of the support.

6. A compensator as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the size of the tilt angles in the retardation foils, viewed from the common support, increases from the surfaces of the support.

7. A compensator as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the tilt angles of the liquid-crystal molecules in the polymerized or vitrified, nematic liquid-crystalline material in at least one of the retardation foils increase or decrease, viewed at right angles to the retardation foil.

8. A compensator as claimed in claims 5, characterized in that the tilt angles of the liquid-crystal molecules in the polymerized or vitrified, nematic liquid-crystalline material in a retardation foil have a substantially constant value.

9. A compensator as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that the tilt angles of the liquid-crystal molecules in the polymerized or vitrified, nematic liquid-crystalline material in the retardation foil range between at least 5 degrees and maximally 70 degrees.

10. A compensator as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the tilt angles of the liquid-crystal molecules in the polymerized or vitrified, nematic liquid-crystalline material in the retardation foil range between at least 10 degrees and maximally 40 degrees.

11. A compensator as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the liquid-crystalline material comprises liquid-crystal molecules which, at the location of the support, are oriented predominantly parallel to the support or at a small angle relative to the support, and at a free surface of the liquid-crystalline material, predominantly at right angles to said free surface.

12. A compensator as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the liquid-crystalline material comprises liquid-crystal molecules which, at the location of the support, are oriented predominantly at right angles to the support and, at a free surface of the liquid-crystalline material, parallel to the surface or at a small angle relative to said surface.

13. A compensator as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the nematically polymerized or vitrified material comprises liquid-crystal molecules which are provided, at one end, with a non-polar group, and, at the other end, with a polar group.

14. A compensator as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that at least one retardation foil comprises a material selected from the group consisting of tantalum oxide, tungsten oxide, silicon oxide and titanium oxide.

15. A liquid-crystal display device having a display cell, which comprises a layer of a nematic, liquid-crystalline material between two substantially parallel substrates, and a first and a second polarizer, characterized in that the liquid-crystal display device comprises a compensator as claimed in any one of claim 1.

16. A compensator as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the retardation foils comprises a transparent support on which a first layer comprising completely or partially polymerized or vitrified nematic, liquid-crystalline material is situated, characterized in that the liquid-crystalline material contains liquid crystal molecules which, at the location of said transparent support, are oriented substantially parallel to said transparent support or at a small angle relative to said transparent support, and, at a free surface of the liquid-crystalline material, substantially at right angles to the free surface.

17. A compensator as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the retardation foils comprises a transparent support on which a first layer comprising completely or partially polymerized or vitrified nematic, liquid-crystalline material is situated, characterized in that the liquid-crystalline material contains liquid crystal molecules which, at the location of said transparent support, are oriented substantially at right angles to the support and, at a free surface of the liquid-crystalline material, parallel to the surface or at a small angle relative to the surface.

18. A compensator as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the retardation foils comprises a transparent support on which a layer of a birefrengent material is situated, characterized in that said at least one retardation foil comprises a plurality of sub-layers.

19. A compensator as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the retardation foils comprises a layer of a birefringent material provided on an additional transparent support, said layer of birefringent material comprising a plurality of sub-layers.

20. A retardation foil as claimed in claim 19, characterized in that at least one sub-layer comprises a material of the group formed by tantalum oxide, tungsten oxide, silicon oxide and titanium oxide.

21. A compensator as claimed in claim 19, wherein at least one sub-layer consists essentially of polymerized or vitrified nematic, liquid-crystalline material, liquid-crystal molecules in the polymerized or vitrified liquid-crystalline material being oriented parallel to the optical main axis and exhibiting a tilt angle relative to a surface of the support.

22. A compensator as claimed in claim 21, wherein at least one sub-layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of tantalum oxide, tungsten oxide, silicon oxide and titanium oxide.

23. A retardation foil comprising a transparent support on which a first layer containing completely or partly polymerized or vitrified nematic, liquid-crystalline material is situated, characterized in that the liquid-crystalline material contains liquid-crystal molecules which, at the location of the support, are oriented substantially parallel to the support or at a small angle relative to the support, and, at a free surface of the liquid-crystalline material, substantially at right angles to the free surface.

24. A liquid-crystal display device having a display cell, which comprises a layer of a liquid-crystalline material between two substantially parallel substrates, and a first and a second polarizer, characterized in that the liquid-crystal display device comprises a retardation foil as claimed in any claim 23.

25. A retardation foil comprising a transparent support on which a first layer containing completely or partly polymerized or vitrified nematic, liquid-crystalline material is situated, characterized in that the liquid-crystalline material contains liquid-crystal molecules which, at the location of the support, are oriented substantially at right angles to the support and, at a free surface of the liquid-crystalline material, parallel to the surface or at a small angle relative to the surface.

26. A method of manufacturing a retardation foil, in which a liquid-crystalline material is provided on an oriented surface of a substrate and then polymerized or vitrified, characterized in that the ratio K₁₁ /W between the elastic constant K₁₁ of the liquid-crystalline material and the (polar) anchoring-energy coefficient W between the substrate and the liquid-crystalline material is smaller than 300 nm.