Microrubbing technique to produce high pretilt multidomain liquid crystal alignment

We disclose a microrubbing ($\mu$ -rubbing) technique to create multidomain alignment in liquid crystal displays. A small metallic sphere under sufficient load is used to directly rub a polyimide alignment layer that is known to enforce homeotropic boundary conditions of the liquid crystal. We demonstrate a $47\mu \mathrm{m}$ linewidth and a $10°$ pretilt with respect to the substrate plane. We report on the electro-optic performance properties and viewing angle characteristics of four domain samples, where the midplane angle of the director is oriented in four different directions.