• Under a grant from NIST's Advanced Technology Program, Elsicon, Inc., Wilmington, DE, has demonstrated an optical technology for aligning liquid crystals that is expected to increase manufacturing yields of liquid-crystal displays for laptop computers and many other applications. Consumers eventually could see reduced display costs and improved quality.

In the past, the manufacturing yields of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) used in laptop computers, calculators, video games, instrumentation, and emerging high-definition television systems have been low. The low yields are attributed, in part, to a troublesome technique for aligning the liquid crystals into the uniform pattern required for virtually every application. The goal of this ATP project was to develop a novel technology for aligning liquid crystals using polarized light, leading to improved yield and reduced costs in LCD manufacture. The research team now at Elsicon, Inc. (who carried out the ATP-funded work at two other companies before April 1997) designed a generic technology and demonstrated its use in aligning liquid crystals for LCDs. In this technique, called OptoAlign™, polarized light is directed at the polymer and then turned off, leaving the material changed in such a way that the adjacent liquid crystals fall into uniform alignment. Patents are being sought for new polymeric materials and a new way of controlling light. The team also developed a technique that applies the same approach to optical storage media for information storage devices.

Elsicon now is working with several major LCD manufacturers to incorporate the optical technology into factory processes and has signed an agreement with a major materials company that will serve as Elsicon's materials distributor in Japan. Industry interest also is reflected in Elsicon's recent receipt of a $1.65 million contract from the U.S. Display Consortium, which will fund half the $3.3 million cost of developing a scaled-up manufacturing process. The consortium is a public-private partnership aimed at developing a U.S. infrastructure to support display manufacturing. Consumers are expected to benefit eventually from reduced LCD costs and improved viewing angles. In addition, Elsicon is seeking a patent on a technique adapting the same approach to optical media for information storage and envisions applications in the manufacture of passive optical components and switches.

ATP funding: $1,671,000
Non-ATP funding: $1,371,000

September 1997