Atomic-beam alignment of inorganic materials for liquid-crystal displays

P. Chaudhari (), James Lacey, James Doyle, Eileen Galligan, Shui-Chi Alan Lien, Alesandro Callegari, Gareth Hougham, Norton D. Lang, Paul S. Andry, Richard John, Kei-Hsuing Yang, Minhua Lu, Chen Cai, James Speidell, Sampath Purushothaman, John Ritsko, Mahesh Samant, Joachim Stöhr, Yoshiki Nakagawa, Yoshimine Katoh, Yukito Saitoh, Kazumi Sakai, Hiroyuki Satoh, Shuichi Odahara, Hiroki Nakano, Johji Nakagaki and Yasuhiko Shiota
Additional contact information
P. Chaudhari: IBM Watson Research Centre
James Lacey: IBM Watson Research Centre
James Doyle: IBM Watson Research Centre
Eileen Galligan: IBM Watson Research Centre
Shui-Chi Alan Lien: IBM Watson Research Centre
Alesandro Callegari: IBM Watson Research Centre
Gareth Hougham: IBM Watson Research Centre
Norton D. Lang: IBM Watson Research Centre
Paul S. Andry: IBM Watson Research Centre
Richard John: IBM Watson Research Centre
Kei-Hsuing Yang: IBM Watson Research Centre
Minhua Lu: IBM Watson Research Centre
Chen Cai: IBM Watson Research Centre
James Speidell: IBM Watson Research Centre
Sampath Purushothaman: IBM Watson Research Centre
John Ritsko: IBM Watson Research Centre
Mahesh Samant: IBM Almaden Research Centre
Joachim Stöhr: IBM Almaden Research Centre
Yoshiki Nakagawa: IBM Japan Ltd, Display Business Unit
Yoshimine Katoh: IBM Japan Ltd, Display Business Unit
Yukito Saitoh: IBM Japan Ltd, Display Business Unit
Kazumi Sakai: IBM Japan Ltd, Display Business Unit
Hiroyuki Satoh: IBM Japan Ltd, Display Business Unit
Shuichi Odahara: IBM Japan Ltd, Display Business Unit
Hiroki Nakano: IBM Japan Ltd, Advanced Manufacturing Engineering
Johji Nakagaki: IBM Japan Ltd, Advanced Manufacturing Engineering
Yasuhiko Shiota: IBM Japan Ltd, Advanced Manufacturing Engineering

Nature, 2001, vol. 411, issue 6833, 56-59

Abstract: Abstract The technique used to align liquid crystals—rubbing the surface of a substrate on which a liquid crystal is subsequently deposited1,2,3—has been perfected by the multibillion-dollar liquid-crystal display industry. However, it is widely recognized that a non-contact alignment technique would be highly desirable for future generations of large, high-resolution liquid-crystal displays. A number of alternative alignment techniques have been reported4,5,6,7, but none of these have so far been implemented in large-scale manufacturing. Here, we report a non-contact alignment process, which uses low-energy ion beams impinging at a glancing angle on amorphous inorganic films, such as diamond-like carbon. Using this approach, we have produced both laptop and desktop displays in pilot-line manufacturing, and found that displays of higher quality and reliability could be made at a lower cost than the rubbing technique. The mechanism of alignment is explained by adopting a random network model of atomic arrangement in the inorganic films. Order is induced by exposure to an ion beam because unfavourably oriented rings of atoms are selectively destroyed. The planes of the remaining rings are predominantly parallel to the direction of the ion beam.

Date: 2001
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DOI: 10.1038/35075021

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