Study of Molecular Alignment for Polymer Fibers Formed in Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal

Abstract

A composite film of liquid crystal and polymer networks is useful for supporting plastic substrates of a flexible display device. In this study, we studied the molecular alignment of polymer fiber networks, which are formed in ferroelectric liquid crystal by means of photopolymerization-induced phase separation, by Raman spectral microscopy using incident polarized infrared light. From the dependence of Raman scattering on the incident polarization direction, it was found that side-chain molecular skeletons of the polymer remarkably orient in the rubbing direction of alignment layers coated on the substrates. The polymer forming process was considered due to the molecular alignment evaluation.