Liquid crystal display device

Claim 1

A liquid crystal display device comprising: a first transparent substrate; a first transparent electrode formed on a surface of said first transparent substrate; a second transparent substrate; a partially reflecting dichroic mirror formed on a surface of said second transparent substrate; a second transparent electrode formed on a surface of said partially reflecting dichroic mirror; a first alignment layer formed over said first transparent electrode and over areas of said surface of said first transparent substrate outside areas which are covered by said first transparent electrode; a second alignment layer formed over said second transparent electrode and over areas of said partially reflecting dichroic mirror outside areas which are covered by said second transparent electrode; a layer of liquid crustal molecules consisting of a mixture of positive dielectric anisotropy liquid crystal molecules and chiral material, said first and second alignment layers acting in the absence of an electric field between said first and second transparent electrodes to align the longitudinal axes of molecules of said liquid crystal layer adjacent thereto in a direction parallel to the plane of said first and second substrates whereby said liquid crystal molecules attain a Grandjean texture, with the helix axes of said Grandjean texture being aligned substantially normal to said substrate plane, said liquid crystal layer being responsive to an electric field of predetermined strength between said first and second transparent electrodes for assuming a focal conic texture wherein incident light passing through said liquid crystal layer is scattered thereby; and diffusion reflection means arranged on the opposite side of said second transparent substrate to said layer of liquid crystal molecules.