Compositional investigation of liquid crystal alignment on tantalum oxide via ion beam irradiation

The homogeneously aligned liquid crystal display on Ta2O5 via ion beam (IB) irradiation was first embodied with controllability of pretilt angle depending on incident angle of the IB. As a result of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis, the intensity of Ta–O and O–Ta bondings as a function of incident angle behaved reversely with the pretilt angle and the lowest amplitude was observed at 45°. It revealed that the creation of pretilt angle was attributed to the irradiation of the IB by breaking Ta–O and O–Ta bonding so orientational order was generated by directional IB. Comparable electro-optical characteristics to rubbed polyimide were also achieved.