Direct-writing of complex liquid crystal patterns.

We report on a direct-write system for patterning of arbitrary, high-quality, continuous liquid crystal (LC) alignment patterns. The system uses a focused UV laser and XY scanning stages to expose a photoalignment layer, which then aligns a subsequent LC layer. We intentionally arrange for multiple overlapping exposures of the photoalignment material by a scanned Gaussian beam, often with a plurality of polarizations and intensities, in order to promote continuous and precise LC alignment. This type of exposure protocol has not been well investigated, and sometimes results in unexpected LC responses. Ultimately, this enables us to create continuous alignment patterns with feature sizes smaller than the recording beam. We describe the system design along with a thorough mathematical system description, starting from the direct-write system inputs and ending with the estimated alignment of the LC. We fabricate a number of test patterns to validate our system model, then design and fabricate a number of interesting well-known elements, including a q-plate and polarization grating.