Electro-optic characteristics of 4-domain vertical alignment nematic liquid crystal display with interdigital electrode

We have fabricated a vertically aligned 4-domain nematic liquid crystal dis play cell with thin film transistor. Unlike the conventional method constru cting 4-domain, i.e., protrusion and surrounding electrode which needs addi tional processes, in this study the pixel design forming 4-domain with inte rdigital electrodes is suggested. In the device, one pixel is divided into two parts. One part has a horizontal electric field in the vertical directi on and the other part has a horizontal one in the horizontal direction. Suc h fields in the horizontal and vertical direction drive the liquid crystal director to tilt down in four directions. In this article, the electro-opti c characteristics of cells with 2 and 4 domain have been studied. The devic e with 4 domain shows faster response time than normal twisted-nematic and in-plane switching cells, wide viewing angle with optical compensation film , and more stable color characteristics than 2-domain vertical alignment ce ll with similar structure. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021- 8979(00)01412-2].