Liquid Crystal Materials
Pioneer and global market leader in LC materials
Liquid crystal (LC) materials are the "heart" of any LCD, and their properties are directly linked to display performance. From the early days of LCDs, Merck has been the pioneer and technology leader in LC materials, creating and driving new LCD modes and their continuous forward development.
Your advantages - Best quality and customized LC mixtures
As no single substance can satisfy the specific needs of an application, mixtures of up to 20 individual compounds are required. Using the best LC compounds available, and based on our vast experience dealing with the interaction of the different LC components and their interplay with display layout and materials, we can tailor our licristal® LC mixtures for any specific display using any display mode. Through our local sales organizations, research and development labs, and LC mixture production sites in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China, we are always close to the customer - both physically and in terms of our collaboration style.
Applications - The world of liquid crystals
Passive matrix displays have their intrinsic limitations in numbers of pixels and addressing rate. This is remedied in "active matrix" displays where by using a thin-film transistor (TFT) each pixel holds the information until it is addressed the next time. Without TN-TFT LCDs, the breakthrough of notebooks in the 1990s and later of flat screen computer monitors would not have been possible. Still, TN-TFT has its drawbacks in contrast and viewing angle dependence. As a result, the tremendous success of LCD TVs in recent years made new LCD modes mandatory. The solutions were VA and IPS, offering excellent picture quality in all viewing directions.
The technology - What are liquid crystals?
Liquid crystals (LCs) are the active medium in now ubiquitous LC displays (LCDs). An LC is a liquid which is anisotropic: Certain physical properties vary with the "orientation" of the LC. As LCs change their orientation and thus their optical properties when an electric field is applied, this effect can be used for the modulation (= switching) of light in displays. A number of "geometries" or LCD modes exist, but most commercially significant are TN (Twisted Nematic), IPS (In-Plane Switching) and VA (Vertical Alignment). For each of these technologies, LCs with the necessary specific properties are available from Merck tailor-made for various applications.
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