Ferroelectric liquid crystal optical device having dielectric layers with large surface energy and high polar power component

Claim 1

A liquid crystal optical device comprising: a first substrate having a first substrate surface on which a first electrode is formed; a second substrate having a second substrate surface on which a second electrode is formed; a first aligning film covering one of the first and second electrodes and at least a portion of the substrate surface on which the one of the first and second electrodes is formed; a second aligning film covering the other of said first and second electrodes and at least a portion of the substrate surface on which the other of the first and second electrodes is formed; a dielectric layer disposed between at least one of the first and second aligning films and the electrode covered by the at least one aligning film; the dielectric layer having a surface energy including a polar power component and a dispersed component, the value of the polar power component being at least 20 dyn/cm of the surface energy, wherein the surface energy of said dielectric layer is larger than the surface energy of said at least one aligning film; a sealing member for bonding the first and second substrates to each other with a predetermined gap therebetween so that the first and second substrate surfaces on which the first and second electrodes are respectively formed face each other across the predetermined gap, said sealing member further sealing the gap; and a ferroelectric liquid crystal material sealed in the gap formed between the first and second substrates and sealed by the sealing member; whereby the polar power component of at least 20 dyn/cm substantially uniformly aligns a plurality of molecules in the liquid crystal material and provides a first and a second stable switching state for the liquid crystal material.