Physicochemically modified anisotropic polyacrylamide thin film via ion‐beam treatment for liquid crystal system

We investigated ion‐beam (IB)‐treated polyacrylamide (PAM) film as a liquid crystal (LC) alignment layer. Polarized optical microscopy and pretilt angle analysis show the uniform LC alignment status. Atomic force microscopy shows the IB etching effect, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicates...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plasma processes and polymers 2022-04, Vol.19 (4), p.n/a
Main Authors: Lee, Dong Wook, Kim, Dong Hyun, Oh, Jin Young, Seo, Dae‐Shik
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alignment
Atomic force microscopy
electro‐optical performance
ion‐beam treatment
liquid crystal alignment
Liquid crystals
Microscopes
Microscopy
Optical microscopy
Photoelectrons
Polyacrylamide
surface modification
Thin films
Van der Waals forces
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Summary:We investigated ion‐beam (IB)‐treated polyacrylamide (PAM) film as a liquid crystal (LC) alignment layer. Polarized optical microscopy and pretilt angle analysis show the uniform LC alignment status. Atomic force microscopy shows the IB etching effect, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicates the formation of carbon–oxygen bonds on the surface, which ensured the uniform alignment of LC molecules via van der Waals forces interaction. The reformed PAM films also had good thermal budgets and optical transparency for the LC system. The IB‐treated PAM films demonstrated stable electro‐optical performances in a twisted nematic LC system. Hence, IB treatment can be an effective method to apply several polymer materials to the LC alignment layer, and IB‐irradiated PAM films have remarkable potential for use in the LC system. We utilized the polyacrylamide material as a liquid crystal alignment layer in this study via varied adjusting of the film curing temperature, and subsequent ion‐beam (IB) irradiation. The characteristics of polyacrylamide films before and after IB irradiation was analyzed by atomic force microscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The fabricated liquid crystal (LC) cells showed a high‐quality uniform LC alignment state in polarized optical microscopy and pretilt angle analysis, and also represented the high optical transmittance, thermal stability, and electro‐optical performances.
ISSN:1612-8850
1612-8869
DOI:10.1002/ppap.202100207