Novel film patterned retarder utilizing in-plane electric field.

Conventional film patterned retarder (FPR) production requires a photo-alignment layer and a UV exposure process through a patterned wire-grid photo-mask, increasing the cost as well as limiting the resolution of FPR. We proposed a novel method for the fabrication of FPR without using the alignment layer and the photo-mask. Reactive mesogen (RM) was coated on a base film, and then the substrate with 2-domain interdigitated electrodes was contacted over the RM layer. The in-plane electric field reoriented the randomly orientated RM molecules to the field direction, generating the slow axes in each domain. Then, the UV light was exposed to the film, fixing the slow axes of the polymerized RM with orthogonal orientation between neighboring domains. Finally, an incident linearly polarized light gave rise to giving oppositely handed circular polarizations of light after passing the film.