Photoinduced liquid crystal alignment based on a surface relief grating in an assembled cell

Surface relief gratings have been optically inscribed on azopolymer films on the interior surface of an empty liquid crystal (LC) cell. Uniform LC alignment is observed in the inscribed regions when the cell is filled. Since the microgrooves are on both sides, this may provide a higher degree of order than other techniques. The stability of the relief gratings and the transmittance of the azopolymer films can be further improved by photobleaching. This alignment technique could have useful applications in the in-plane switching LC displays.