Anchoring energy enhancement and pretilt angle control of liquid crystal alignment on polymerized surfaces AIP Advances 5, 097218 (2015);

Correlations between the director reorientation time and its consequent optical response time ͑both decay and rise͒ of a homeotropic liquid crystal ͑LC͒ cell under crossed polarizers are derived theoretically based on small angle approximation. Results indicate that the optical response time is linearly proportional to the LC director reorientation time and is weakly dependent on the initial bias voltage. To validate the derived correlations, transient phase and transmittance responses at various bias voltages are analyzed numerically by solving the Erickson-Leslie equation. Pretilt angle is found to make an important contribution to the optical response time. Gray scale switching of the homeotropic cell is also investigated.

A computer simulation model based on oblique-angle Jones matrix and Poincaré sphere is developed for optimizing the design of film-compensated multidomain vertical-alignment liquid crystal display (VA-LCD). According to this design, a contrast ratio higher than 10 000:1 is predicted over the entire ±85° viewing cone for the four-domain VA-LCD. Potential application for liquid-crystal display television is emphasized.