Irkutsk Technical University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology are launching a promising project in liquid crystals and photoalignment. A lab and pilot production of fast LCD devices are planned at IrSTU.

Irkutsk Technical University has been cooperating for several years with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, which ranks 40th in the world ranking. The universities conduct joint research and organize internships for scientists and graduate students.
“Our compatriot, Professor Vladimir Chigrinov of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, submitted an application for joint research in the field of LCD technologies to a fund that includes representatives of the Hong Kong government and private companies interested in scientific developments. I would like to note that Chigrinov is the author of 60 patents and one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of liquid crystals. Under the terms of the competition, IrSTU is participating in this project as a co-executor. It is planned that a laboratory and an experimental production facility for new high-speed LCD devices will be created on the basis of our university. The new devices are based on photoalignment technology,” said Andrey Tanaev, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at IrSTU.
He clarified that it was Professor Chigrinov who was one of the first to propose and theoretically substantiate such a method of aligning liquid crystals in a cell. The essence of this technology lies in creating a contactless method of orienting liquid-crystal molecules. Photoalignment technology makes it possible to completely avoid the shortcomings of the widespread method of mechanically rubbing the aligning surface, which improves image quality, in particular its contrast, color reproduction, and processing speed. Another advantage of these LCDs is that they can be made not only on glass, but also on flexible substrates. In this case, it is possible to produce something like electronic paper, which gives an image in reflected, rather than transmitted, light. Electronic paper does not require backlighting and is therefore extremely energy-efficient (more than 98% of the energy is spent precisely on backlighting). In addition, such devices can have a memory effect, i.e. an image can be written to the display, and it will retain the “picture” without power consumption.
The promise of photoalignment technology is evidenced by the fact that giants such as Sharp, Samsung, and LG, which together control about 50% of the world’s liquid-crystal display market, are beginning to adopt it. Experts note that plasma panels have practically become a thing of the past, giving way to LCD televisions. According to V. Chigrinov, the broadest possibilities of LCD technologies can be used not only to create display equipment. Liquid crystals are also of interest in the field of protecting securities, since holography no longer provides one hundred percent reliability. In addition, LCDs can be used in the creation of electronic sensors in biology, as well as to improve the properties of optical fibers.
“By participating in this grant, we are setting ourselves a noble and, at the same time, ambitious task - to revive research in the field of liquid crystals in Russia. Let me remind you that in the 1930s it was our country’s scientists who were the first in the world to begin studying the properties of liquid crystals. In the USSR in the 1970s and 1980s, ‘liquid-crystal science’ was one of the strongest in the world. Then the research practically ceased, and meanwhile the demand for specialists of this profile was high, and many prominent Soviet scientists went abroad. At present, the global telecommunications industry is moving to optical communication lines, and accordingly modern, high-speed optical elements based on liquid crystals are increasingly in demand by this industry. At our university, interest in this promising scientific field among young scientists is very high, and there is a good foundation in terms of fundamental research. In addition, we have created the infrastructure - the laboratories of the Physics and Technology Institute (PTI) of IrSTU are equipped with modern equipment that makes it possible to conduct research in the field of liquid crystals. Soon we may be able to experiment with liquid-crystal cells from which an image is assembled. All this will make it possible in the future to create a scientific center for LCD technologies at IrSTU,” A. Tanaev emphasized.