Rubbing-free, vertically aligned nematic liquid crystal display controlled by in-plane field

Abstract
We fabricated a homeotropically aligned nematic liquid crystal display with positive dielectric anisotropy, whose on and off states are controlled by in-plane field. The rubbing-free device, dark in voltage-off state, reveals bright uniformity in all directions due to the dual domainlike director configuration in the voltage-on state. The electro-optic characteristics of one prototype with excellent viewing angles are reported herein.