Liquid Crystal Surface Alignment Treatment Giving Controlled Low Angle Tilt

We report methods of simultaneous or sequential oblique evaporations of silicon monoxide at angles of 30[ddot] and 5[ddot] to glass substrates. These permit parallel homo-geneous alignment of liquid crystals to be obtained concomitant with a controllable surface tilt angle of the director. The range of tilt angles obtained is from O[ddot] to about 45[ddot] depending on the liquid crystal materials used. The low surface tilts obtained using these methods should be of use in producing improved twisted nemetic display devices.