New technique for efficient fabrication of liquid crystal display devices with lowered cost

Source: The post is based on the article “New technique for efficient fabrication of liquid crystal display devices with lowered cost” published in PIB on 15th November 2022

What is the News?

A new easier technique of manufacturing Liquid Crystal Displays(LCDs) has been developed, which can reduce the cost of the devices.

What are Liquid Crystals, and what are their applications?

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What is the major drawback currently with Liquid Crystal Devices(LCDs)?

An essential requirement of Liquid crystal devices(LCDs) is the unidirectional planar alignment of the constituent liquid crystals(LC) over large areas. The conventional polymer rubbing method yields quality LC alignment.

But it possesses unavoidable and undesirable drawbacks such as 1) production of electrostatic charges and dust particles interfere with display operation and even cause damage to the electronic components of the display, 2) dust creates defects which seriously compromise the performance of the device, 3) multistep process for coating and the 4) necessity for high-temperature curing. 

Due to these drawbacks, there is a surge in demand to replace this rubbing method with new non-contact techniques.

What have scientists developed to overcome these drawbacks?

​​A team of scientists has developed a novel way of employing 2D materials to overcome the drawbacks of current methods.

Using h-BN nanoflakes as the specific material, the scientists employed a procedure called the solution-processed deposition technique and found it to be effective in getting the LC alignment over a much larger area. 

They also found the resultant crystals to be quite robust with no evidence of decay in LC orientation over several months.