Patterning liquid crystal optical alignment device and method based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference

Abstract

The present invention discloses a patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment device and method based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference. The device includes an illumination component, a pattern reduction component, a focal length servo component, a motion control component, a polarization pattern generation component, an optical path calibration and monitoring component, and a phase compensation component. The phase compensation component directly compensates the optical path in the polarization pattern generation component. The present invention utilizes the phase difference generated by a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) spatial light modulator to control the polarization information of circularly polarized light, enabling the polarization direction of linearly polarized light formed by circularly polarized light interference to be precisely controllable. Combining the property that the photo-alignment material is sensitive to the polarization direction of linearly polarized light, the directional alignment of liquid crystals can be achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of liquid crystal alignment control, and in particular to a patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment device and method based on orthogonal circular polarization light interference. Background Art

[0002] Liquid crystal is a functional material with both liquid and crystal properties, and is widely used in various liquid crystal displays. However, the arrangement of liquid crystal molecules is not as firm as that of crystal structures. Under external actions (such as electric fields, magnetic fields, and stress), liquid crystal molecules will change from the initial arrangement to other arrangements, resulting in changes in their optical properties, which is the basis of liquid crystal display. The ordered arrangement of liquid crystals is achieved by providing sufficient directional anchoring force through an alignment film, and liquid crystal alignment technology is a technology developed to achieve this purpose.

[0003] Currently, the widely used alignment control method in the industry is the rubbing alignment technology, which completes the directional arrangement of liquid crystals by rubbing the alignment film. However, it is prone to defects such as static electricity, dust, and damage to the film surface. To solve the technical problems of rubbing alignment, technologies such as oblique evaporation coating technology and surface chemical treatment technology have emerged one after another, but there are problems that some substrates are not applicable. Photo-alignment technology is a non-contact alignment method for the development of liquid crystal alignment in recent years, with the advantages of being localizable, less polluting, and easy to operate. Currently, there are mainly two categories of methods to achieve photo-alignment. One category requires a mask, including contact mask exposure, projection mask exposure, and projection dynamic mask exposure. Among them, contact mask exposure and projection mask exposure require corresponding masks to be made for different patterns, with disadvantages such as high production cost and low efficiency. Currently, the current projection dynamic mask exposure (DMD-based dynamic mask exposure) cannot form different liquid crystal alignment patterns in different selected areas under single exposure and requires multiple exposures, also having problems such as low efficiency and difficult registration. The other category does not require a mask and uses holographic interference, but can only generate one-dimensional or two-dimensional periodic and single-orientation liquid crystal alignment patterns, and it is difficult to prepare complex patterns.

[0004] Specifically, the invention patent with the application number: 201210225093.9 and the patent name: A Method and Device for Realizing Arbitrary Liquid Crystal Orientation Control by Numerical Control Micro-Mirror Array Lithography discloses a DMD dynamic mask optical orientation technology. By controlling the deflection of the micro-mirrors in the DMD, the dynamic mask function is realized. Although this method can realize the selective area orientation arrangement of liquid crystals without replacing the mask, it cannot record the arbitrary orientation arrangement pattern of the liquid crystal selective area during a single optical orientation process. Each optical orientation operation can only record a single-direction polarization pattern. If different selective areas with different-direction polarization patterns need to be recorded, multiple design drawings need to be drawn and continuously loaded into the DMD control chip to realize the orientation of different selective areas. Moreover, each time it is loaded, the polarizer needs to be rotated once to control the polarization direction of light, resulting in low production efficiency and problems such as mechanical rotation errors.

[0005] Specifically, the utility model patent with the application number: 201820881217.1 and the patent name: An Optical Orientation Device for Achieving Arbitrary Distribution by Single Exposure discloses an LCOS dynamic mask optical orientation technology. By applying voltage to control the phase delay of each pixel of the pixelated electro-optic phase retardation device, although the optical path of this method is simple, the transmissive spatial light modulator adopted by this method has large energy loss. Moreover, due to the limitation of the working area of LCOS, large-area and high-precision patterned liquid crystal arrangement cannot be realized. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention proposes a patterned liquid crystal optical orientation device and method based on orthogonal circular polarization light interference.

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution of the present invention is as follows:

[0008] The patterned liquid crystal optical orientation device based on orthogonal circular polarization light interference includes:

[0009] An illumination component, used to provide a light source and achieve a collimated and uniform surface light spot;

[0010] A pattern reduction component, used to reduce and project the modulated light field onto the photosensitive material;

[0011] A focal length servo component, including a vertical direction correction component, used to correct the defocus phenomenon caused by movement;

[0012] A motion control component, used to adjust the spatial position of the platform carrying the light polarization photosensitive material to achieve light field stitching;

[0013] A polarization pattern generation component, used to form two orthogonal circularly polarized lights and interfere the two orthogonal circularly polarized lights to form a linearly polarized light that meets the requirements of the polarization orientation angle;

[0014] An optical path calibration monitoring component for calibrating and monitoring the entire interference optical path of a polarization pattern generation component;

[0015] A phase compensation component for performing phase compensation according to the linear polarization direction information of the linearly polarized light fed back by the optical path calibration monitoring component, and the phase compensation component directly compensates the optical path in the polarization pattern generation component.

[0016] Based on the above technical solutions, the following improvements can be made:

[0017] As a preferred solution, the polarization pattern generation component includes: a spatial light modulator, a first beam splitter, a first quarter-wave plate, a second quarter-wave plate, and a mirror;

[0018] The incident light of the polarization pattern generation component forms a first light beam and a second light beam after passing through the first beam splitter;

[0019] The linearly polarized light of the first light beam becomes circularly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate for the first time. The mirror reflects the incident light of the first light beam that has passed through the first quarter-wave plate for the first time. The outgoing light of the first light beam after reflection becomes linearly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate for the second time, and the polarization direction of this linearly polarized light is perpendicular to the polarization direction of the initial incident light of the first light beam;

[0020] The spatial light modulator modulates the incident light of the second light beam, performs phase modulation on the light field incident on its working surface and reflects it to form the outgoing light of the second light beam;

[0021] After the outgoing light of the first light beam and the outgoing light of the second light beam pass through the first beam splitter again and then pass through the second quarter-wave plate, they become two orthogonally polarized circularly polarized lights, realizing the interference of the two circularly polarized lights to form linearly polarized light.

[0022] As a preferred solution, the polarization pattern generation component includes: a spatial light modulator, a polarization beam splitter, a quarter-wave plate, and a mirror;

[0023] The incident light of the polarization pattern generation component is unpolarized light. This incident light forms a first light beam and a second light beam after passing through the polarization beam splitter. The first light beam is s-polarized light, and the second light beam is p-polarized light;

[0024] The incident light of the first light beam is reflected by the mirror, and the polarization direction of the outgoing light of the first light beam after reflection by the mirror is perpendicular to the polarization direction of the p-polarized light;

[0025] The spatial light modulator modulates the incident light of the second light beam, performs phase modulation on the light field incident on its working surface and reflects it to form the outgoing light of the second light beam, and the crystal axis direction of the spatial light modulator is parallel to the polarization direction of the second light beam;

[0026] After the outgoing light of the first light beam and the outgoing light of the second light beam pass through the polarization beam splitter again and then pass through a quarter-wave plate, they become two orthogonally circularly polarized light beams, realizing the interference of the two circularly polarized light beams to form linearly polarized light.

[0027] As a preferred solution, the phase compensation component includes: a stepper motor and a piezoelectric ceramic disposed on the telescopic rod of the stepper motor, and the piezoelectric ceramic is connected to the mirror;

[0028] The telescopic rod of the stepper motor is used for coarse adjustment, and the piezoelectric ceramic is used for fine adjustment;

[0029] The phase compensation component changes the optical path by changing the position of the mirror according to the feedback information of the optical path calibration monitoring component to perform phase compensation, so that the phase difference between the first light beam and the second light beam is 0 when the spatial light modulator does not perform phase modulation on the incident light field.

[0030] As a preferred solution, the outgoing light of the polarization pattern generation component passes through a second beam splitter and then enters the pattern reduction component, the optical path calibration monitoring component, and the focal length servo component respectively.

[0031] As a preferred solution, the optical path calibration monitoring component includes: a polarizer, a first focusing lens, and a photodetector. The first focusing lens is disposed between the polarizer and the photodetector. The incident light of the optical path calibration monitoring component passes through the polarizer and the first focusing lens in sequence and is then monitored by the photodetector.

[0032] As a preferred solution, the focal length servo component includes: a second focusing lens, a CCD, a monitoring light source, and a third beam splitter;

[0033] The second focusing lens is disposed between the third beam splitter and the CCD.

[0034] As a preferred solution, the optical path from the second beam splitter to the CCD receiving surface is equal to the optical path from the second beam splitter to the workpiece.

[0035] On the other hand, the present invention also provides a patterned liquid crystal photoalignment method based on the interference of orthogonal circularly polarized light, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0036] S1. The illumination component provides a collimated polarized surface light source;

[0037] S2. The interference optical path is first initialized and calibrated. The polarized surface light source enters the polarization pattern generation component, and its incident light forms a first light beam and a second light beam through a first beam splitter. The spatial light modulator does not apply phase modulation to the light field of the second light beam;

[0038] S3. The optical path calibration and monitoring component calibrates and monitors the entire interference optical path of the polarization pattern generation component. When the spatial light modulator does not apply phase modulation to the optical field of the second beam, by driving the precision stepper motor to drive the rotation of the analyzer, the maximum light intensity passing through the analyzer is monitored by the photodetector, and the polarization direction angle θ of the analyzer at this time is recorded. From the polarization direction angle, the phase difference between the first beam and the second beam can be obtained as 2θ, and then it is sent to the phase compensation component;

[0039] S4. The phase compensation component performs phase compensation according to the linear polarization direction information feedback by the optical path calibration and monitoring component. The phase compensation component, according to the feedback information of the optical path calibration and monitoring component, changes the optical path by changing the position of the mirror in the polarization pattern generation component to achieve phase compensation, so that when the spatial light modulator does not perform phase modulation on the incident optical field, the phase difference between the first beam and the second beam is 0, and the initialization calibration is completed;

[0040] S5. The patterning of the liquid crystal photo-alignment officially starts. At this time, the optical path calibration and monitoring component does not need to work. The spatial light modulator applies phase modulation to the optical field of the second beam. The linearly polarized light of the first beam becomes circularly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate for the first time. The mirror reflects the incident light of the first beam that has passed through the first quarter-wave plate for the first time. The outgoing light of the first beam after reflection becomes linearly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate for the second time, and the polarization direction of this linearly polarized light is perpendicular to the polarization direction of the initial incident light of the first beam; The spatial light modulator modulates the incident light of the second beam, performs phase modulation on the optical field incident on its working surface and reflects it to form the outgoing light of the second beam;

[0041] After the outgoing light of the first beam and the outgoing light of the second beam pass through the first beam splitter and emerge, they pass through the second quarter-wave plate and become two orthogonal circularly polarized lights, realizing the interference of the two circularly polarized lights and forming linearly polarized light;

[0042] S6. The pattern miniaturization component miniaturizes the polarization pattern output by the polarization pattern generation component and writes it into the photo-polarization sensitive material;

[0043] S7. The servo focusing component adjusts the distance between the imaging objective lens group and the photo-polarization sensitive material surface so that the focal plane of the imaging objective lens group always remains on the photo-polarization sensitive material surface;

[0044] S8. Record the single-time light-controlled alignment on the photo-polarization sensitive material;

[0045] S9. Move the platform carrying the photo-polarization sensitive material to the next specified position for the next pattern optical field recording.

[0046] On the other hand, the present invention also provides another patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment method based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0047] S1. The illumination component provides a collimated unpolarized surface light source;

[0048] S2. The interference optical path is first initialized and calibrated. The unpolarized surface light source enters the polarization pattern generation component. Its incident light forms a first light beam and a second light beam through a polarization beam splitter. The first light beam is an s-polarized light, and the second light beam is a p-polarized light. The spatial light modulator does not apply phase modulation to the light field of the second light beam;

[0049] S3. The optical path calibration and monitoring component calibrates and monitors the entire interference optical path of the polarization pattern generation component. When the spatial light modulator does not apply phase modulation to the light field of the second light beam, by driving a precision stepping motor to drive the rotation of the analyzer, the maximum light intensity passing through the analyzer is monitored by a photodetector, and the polarization direction angle θ of the analyzer at this time is recorded. From the polarization direction angle, the phase difference between the first light beam and the second light beam can be obtained as 2θ, and then it is sent to the phase compensation component;

[0050] S4. The phase compensation component performs phase compensation according to the linear polarization direction information feedback by the optical path calibration and monitoring component. The phase compensation component, according to the feedback information of the optical path calibration and monitoring component, changes the optical path by changing the position of the mirror in the polarization pattern generation component to achieve phase compensation, so that the phase difference between the first light beam and the second light beam is 0 when the spatial light modulator does not apply phase modulation to the incident light field, and the initialization calibration is completed;

[0051] S5. The patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment work officially starts. At this time, the optical path calibration and monitoring component does not need to work. The spatial light modulator applies phase modulation to the light field of the second light beam. The incident light of the first light beam is reflected by the mirror, and the polarization direction of the outgoing light of the first light beam after being reflected by the mirror is perpendicular to the polarization direction of the p-polarized light; the spatial light modulator modulates the incident light of the second light beam, applies phase modulation to the light field incident on its working surface and reflects it to form the outgoing light of the second light beam, and the crystal axis direction of the spatial light modulator is parallel to the polarization direction of the second light beam; after the outgoing light of the first light beam and the outgoing light of the second light beam pass through the polarization beam splitter again and then pass through a quarter-wave plate, they become two orthogonal circularly polarized lights, realizing the interference of the two circularly polarized lights to form linearly polarized light;

[0052] S6. The pattern reduction component reduces the polarization pattern output by the polarization pattern generation component and writes it into the photo-polarization sensitive material;

[0053] S7. The servo focusing component adjusts the distance between the imaging objective lens group and the photo-polarization sensitive material surface so that the focal plane of the imaging objective lens group always remains on the photo-polarization sensitive material surface;

[0054] S8. Record the single - time optical - control orientation onto the photo - polarization sensitive material;

[0055] S9. Move the platform carrying the photo - polarization sensitive material to the next specified position for the next pattern light - field recording.

[0056] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0057] First, compared with the technology of DMD plus wave - plate, single - time exposure can control the arbitrary orientation arrangement of liquid crystals in the area corresponding to the pixels of the spatial light modulator in the exposure area, without the need to replace the mask multiple times, use the DMD to refresh the dynamic mask, and rotate the polarizer to change the polarization direction of light.

[0058] Second, compared with the technical solution of LCOS plus wave - plate, the spatial light modulator LCOS does not need to reflect at a certain angle and can achieve complete normal incidence. Compared with the LCOS reflective optical path, there is no error generated by paraxial rays. The LCOS reflective optical path has strict requirements for paraxial rays, requiring less than five degrees, and normal incidence avoids paraxial error.

[0059] Third, orthogonal circularly polarized light interferes to form linearly polarized light, achieving the superposition of light intensity. Compared with the technical solution of the LCOS plus wave - plate optical path, the requirement for the power of the light - source component is reduced.

[0060] Fourth, the optical path is automatically calibrated using negative feedback with higher calibration accuracy. The compensation mentioned in other patents is all to perform phase compensation using the spatial light modulator, while the compensation used in this patent is to directly compensate the optical path, reducing the error of phase modulation of the spatial light modulator (voltage fluctuations will cause the working error of the spatial light modulator), and there is no need to recalibrate the spatial light modulator every time the device is restarted.

[0061] Fifth, the mirror is adjusted by combining a precision stepper motor and a piezoelectric ceramic. The precision stepper motor coarsely adjusts the optical path, and the piezoelectric ceramic finely adjusts the optical path, making the calibration accuracy of the optical path higher. And higher optical - path accuracy can achieve higher accuracy of liquid - crystal orientation arrangement, improving the accuracy of the prepared polarization optical device. Description of the Drawings

[0062] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the following - described drawings are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0063] Figure 1 Optical path diagram of the patterned liquid crystal photoalignment device based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0064] Figure 2 Partial optical path diagram of the illumination component and the polarization pattern generation component provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0065] Figure 3 Workflow diagram of the patterned liquid crystal photoalignment device based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0066] Figure 4 Calibration flowchart of the optical path calibration monitoring component provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0067] Wherein:

[0068] 1 - Illumination component, 11 - Light source component, 12 - Collimating and beam expanding component, 13 - Polarizer,

[0069] 2 - Pattern miniaturization component,

[0070] 3 - Focal length servo component, 31 - Second focusing lens, 32 - CCD, 33 - Monitoring light source, 34 - Third beam splitter,

[0071] 4 - Polarization pattern generation component, 41 - First beam splitter, 42 - Mirror, 43 - Second beam splitter, 44 - Spatial light modulator, 45 - First quarter-wave plate, 46 - Second quarter-wave plate, 47 - Polarizing beam splitter, 48 - Quarter-wave plate,

[0072] 5 - Optical path calibration monitoring component, 51 - Analyzer, 52 - First focusing lens, 53 - Photoelectric detector,

[0073] 6 - Phase compensation component, 61 - Piezoelectric ceramic, 62 - Precision stepping motor, 621 - Telescopic rod,

[0074] 7 - Platform, 8 - Imaging lens group, a - First light beam, b - Second light beam. Detailed implementation manners

[0075] To make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0076] To achieve the object of the present invention, in some embodiments of the patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment device and method based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference,

[0077] As Figure 1 and 3 shown, the patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment device based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference includes:

[0078] An illumination component 1, configured to provide a light source and achieve a collimated and uniform surface light spot;

[0079] A pattern reduction component 2, configured to reduce and project the modulated light field onto a photosensitive material;

[0080] A focal length servo component 3, including a vertical direction correction component, configured to correct the defocus phenomenon caused by movement;

[0081] A motion control component, configured to adjust the spatial position of a platform 7 carrying a photo-polarization sensitive material to achieve light field stitching;

[0082] A polarization pattern generation component 4, configured to form two orthogonal circularly polarized lights and interfere the two orthogonal circularly polarized lights to form a linearly polarized light that meets the requirements of the polarization orientation angle;

[0083] An optical path calibration and monitoring component 5, configured to calibrate and monitor the entire interference optical path of the polarization pattern generation component 4;

[0084] A phase compensation component 6, configured to perform phase compensation according to the linearly polarized light polarization direction information fed back by the optical path calibration and monitoring component 5, and the phase compensation component 6 directly compensates the optical path in the polarization pattern generation component.

[0085] In some embodiments of the present invention, the illumination component 1 includes:

[0086] A light source component 11, configured to provide a light source, and the wavelength of the light source is within the absorption wavelength range of the photo-alignment material;

[0087] A collimation and beam expansion component 12, configured to adjust a linear light source or a point light source emitted from the light source component into a parallel surface light source with uniform energy distribution and deliver it to the orthogonal circularly polarized light interference component;

[0088] A polarizer 13, configured to convert the light source into a linearly polarized light with a required polarization direction or improve the polarization degree of the polarized light.

[0089] The light source component 11 is used to provide a light source for projection exposure, and the wavelength of the light source is within the absorption wavelength range of the photo-alignment material. The light source component 11 provides a pulsed light source, which operates in a constant temperature and humidity environment, with the drift amplitude of its central wavelength less than 3 nm, the half-width of the light source less than 5 nm, and more than 80% of the energy concentrated within the half-width of the central wavelength. The pulse width of the pulsed light source ranges from picoseconds to seconds, the energy of a single pulse is in the order of nanojoules to millijoules, the energy per unit area is higher than the threshold energy of the photosensitive material and lower than the damage threshold of the phase modulation device LCOS, the wavelength is between 340 nm and 600 nm, the half-width is less than 5 nm, and it is selected according to the photosensitive characteristics of the photosensitive material. The repetition frequency of the pulsed light source is matched with the refresh rate of the phase modulation device LCOS between 1 Hz and 10 kHz.

[0090] The polarizer 13 is used to convert the light emitted by the light source component 11 into linearly polarized light and determine the polarization direction of the incident light. The pulsed light emitted by the light source component 11 forms a collimated and uniform light spot with a divergence angle less than 10 mrad and a light intensity uniformity better than 80% after passing through the collimating and beam expanding component 12 and the polarizer 13. The polarization degree phase error of the output pattern of the polarization pattern generating component caused by the drift of the central wavelength, half-width, temperature, and wave plate error of the pulsed light source is less than 1%; the linearly polarized light source or point light source emitted by the light source component 11 is adjusted into a collimated linearly polarized surface light source after passing through the collimating and beam expanding component 12 and the polarizer 13, and after phase modulation by the polarization pattern generating component 44, the intensity ratio of the polarization direction to the direction perpendicular to it needs to be greater than 10 to 1.

[0091] In order to further optimize the implementation effect of the present invention, in some other embodiments, the remaining characteristic technologies are the same, and the difference lies in that the polarization pattern generating component 4 includes: a spatial light modulator 44, a first beam splitter 41, a first quarter-wave plate 45, a second quarter-wave plate 46, and a mirror 42;

[0092] The incident light of the polarization pattern generating component 4 forms a first light beam a and a second light beam b after passing through the first beam splitter 41;

[0093] The linearly polarized light of the first light beam a becomes circularly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate 45 for the first time. The mirror 42 reflects the incident light of the first light beam a that has passed through the first quarter-wave plate 45 for the first time, and the output light of the first light beam a after reflection becomes linearly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate 45 for the second time, and the polarization direction of this linearly polarized light is perpendicular to the polarization direction of the incident light of the first light beam a initially;

[0094] The spatial light modulator 44 modulates the incident light of the second light beam b, performs phase modulation on the light field incident on its working surface and reflects it to form the output light of the second light beam b;

[0095] After the outgoing light of the first light beam a and the outgoing light of the second light beam b pass through the first beam splitter 41 again and then pass through the second quarter-wave plate 46, they become two orthogonally polarized circularly polarized light beams, realizing the interference of the two circularly polarized light beams and forming linearly polarized light.

[0096] The spatial light modulator 44 used is an LCOS device, with a working frequency ranging from 1 Hz to 10 kHz. The working frequency is selected as 100 Hz, the damage threshold of the pulsed light source is greater than 300 mJ / cm2, the number of pixels is 1920*1080, the size of a single pixel is 8 microns, the size of the entire spatial light modulator 44 is 1.54 cm * 0.86 cm, the phase modulation amount for 442 nm is greater than 2π, and the phase modulation accuracy is better than 0.03π. The first beam splitter 41 is used for separating the first light beam a and the second light beam b to realize double-beam interference. The spatial light modulator 44 is used for modulating the incident light of the second light beam b, performing phase modulation on the light field incident on its working surface and reflecting it.

[0097] As a further improvement of the embodiment of the present invention, the phase compensation component 6 includes: a stepper motor 62 and a piezoelectric ceramic 61 disposed on the telescopic rod 621 of the stepper motor. The piezoelectric ceramic 61 is connected to the mirror 42;

[0098] The telescopic rod 621 of the stepper motor 62 is used for coarse adjustment, and the piezoelectric ceramic 61 is used for fine adjustment;

[0099] The phase compensation component 6 performs phase compensation by changing the optical path by changing the position of the mirror 42 according to the feedback information of the optical path calibration monitoring component 5, so that the phase difference between the first light beam a and the second light beam b is 0 when the spatial light modulator 44 does not perform phase modulation on the incident light field.

[0100] As a further improvement of the embodiment of the present invention, the outgoing light of the polarization pattern generation component 4 passes through the second beam splitter 43 and then enters the pattern reduction component 2, the optical path calibration monitoring component 5, and the focal length servo component 3 respectively.

[0101] As a further improvement of the embodiment of the present invention, the optical path calibration monitoring component 5 includes: a polarizer 51, a first focusing lens 52, and a photodetector 53. The first focusing lens 52 is disposed between the polarizer 51 and the photodetector 53. The incident light of the optical path calibration monitoring component 5 is sequentially monitored by the photodetector 53 after passing through the polarizer 51 and the first focusing lens 52.

[0102] As Figure 4As shown, the optical path calibration monitoring component 5 calibrates and monitors the entire interference optical path of the polarization pattern generation component 4. When the spatial light modulator 44 does not apply phase modulation to the optical field of the second beam b, by driving the precision stepping motor to drive the rotation of the analyzer 51, the maximum light intensity passing through the analyzer 51 is monitored by the photodetector 53, and the polarization direction angle θ of the analyzer 51 at this time is recorded. From the polarization direction angle, the phase difference between the first beam a and the second beam b can be obtained as 2θ, completing the initialization.

[0103] As a further improvement of the embodiment of the present invention, the focal length servo component 3 includes: a second focusing lens 31, a CCD 32, a monitoring light source 33, and a third beam splitter 34;

[0104] The second focusing lens 31 is disposed between the third beam splitter 34 and the CCD 32.

[0105] As a further improvement of the embodiment of the present invention, the optical path from the second beam splitter 43 to the CCD receiving surface is equal to the optical path from the second beam splitter 43 to the workpiece.

[0106] The focal length servo component 3 determines whether there is defocusing based on the spot of the monitoring light source projected on the workpiece obtained by the CCD. If there is defocusing, the imaging lens group 8 moves up and down so that the interference spot is accurately focused on the surface of the photosensitive material. After accurate focusing, the light source component 11 emits light to perform patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment on the photosensitive material.

[0107] As a further improvement of the embodiment of the present invention, the pattern reduction component 2 is composed of an imaging lens group 8, which is used to project the optical field modulated by the spatial light modulator 44 onto the photo-alignment material. Different objective lenses with different magnifications can be replaced according to different requirements, and the imaging lens group 8 can perform moving focusing.

[0108] On the other hand, the present invention also provides a method for patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment based on orthogonal circular polarization light interference, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0109] S1. The illumination component 1 provides a collimated polarized surface light source;

[0110] S2. The interference optical path is first initialized and calibrated. The polarized surface light source enters the polarization pattern generation component 4, and its incident light forms a first beam a and a second beam b through the first beam splitter 41. The spatial light modulator 44 does not apply phase modulation to the optical field of the second beam b;

[0111] S3. The optical path calibration and monitoring component 5 calibrates and monitors the entire interference optical path of the polarization pattern generation component 4. When the spatial light modulator 44 does not apply phase modulation to the optical field of the second beam b, by driving the precision stepping motor to drive the rotation of the analyzer 51, the maximum light intensity passing through the analyzer 51 is monitored by the photodetector 53, and the polarization direction angle θ of the analyzer 51 at this time is recorded. From the polarization direction angle, the phase difference between the first beam a and the second beam b can be obtained as 2θ. As Figure 4 shown, and then it is sent to the phase compensation component 6;

[0112] S4. The phase compensation component 6 performs phase compensation according to the linear polarization light polarization direction information fed back by the optical path calibration and monitoring component 5. The phase compensation component 6, according to the feedback information of the optical path calibration and monitoring component 5, changes the optical path by changing the position of the mirror 42 in the polarization pattern generation component 4 to achieve phase compensation, so that when the spatial light modulator 44 does not perform phase modulation on the incident optical field, the phase difference between the first beam a and the second beam b is 0;

[0113] S5. The patterning of the liquid crystal photo-alignment officially starts. At this time, the optical path calibration and monitoring component does not need to work. The spatial light modulator 44 applies phase modulation to the optical field of the second beam b. The linearly polarized light of the first beam a becomes circularly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate 45 for the first time. The mirror 42 reflects the incident light of the first beam a that has passed through the first quarter-wave plate 45 for the first time. The outgoing light of the first beam a after reflection becomes linearly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate 45 for the second time, and the polarization direction of this linearly polarized light is perpendicular to the polarization direction of the incident light of the first beam a initially; the spatial light modulator 44 modulates the incident light of the second beam b, performs phase modulation on the optical field incident on its working surface and reflects it to form the outgoing light of the second beam b;

[0114] After the outgoing light of the first beam a and the outgoing light of the second beam b pass through the first beam splitter 41 and exit again, they pass through the second quarter-wave plate 46 and become two orthogonally polarized circularly polarized lights, realizing the interference of the two circularly polarized lights to form linearly polarized light;

[0115] S6. The pattern reduction component 2 reduces the polarization pattern output by the polarization pattern generation component 4 and writes it into the photo-polarization sensitive material;

[0116] S7. The servo focusing component adjusts the distance between the imaging objective lens group and the photo-polarization sensitive material surface so that the focal plane of the imaging objective lens group always remains on the photo-polarization sensitive material surface;

[0117] S8. The single-time light-controlled alignment is recorded on the photo-polarization sensitive material;

[0118] S9. Move the platform 7 carrying the photo-polarization sensitive material to the next specified position for the next pattern light field recording.

[0119] After step S9, it may further include:

[0120] S10. Join each orientation unit together to form a large-area polarization light pattern light orientation structure on the photo-polarization sensitive material.

[0121] In a specific embodiment, the incident light polarization direction is The splitting ratio of the first beam splitter 41 is 6:4. The linearly polarized light of the first light beam a and the second light beam b is still in the x direction. The fast axis of the first quarter-wave plate 45 forms a +45-degree angle with the x direction. The linearly polarized light of the first light beam a becomes circularly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate 45 for the first time, and becomes linearly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate 45 for the second time The polarization direction is in the y direction. After the movement of the mirror 42, the optical path difference is adjusted so that the first light beam a has a phase compensation, and the outgoing light at this time is The crystal axis direction of the spatial light modulator 44 is parallel to the x direction. The spatial light modulator 44 modulates the incident light of the second light beam b, and the outgoing light after reflection is where δ is the phase delay formed by the spatial light modulator 44, and the polarization direction is still in the x direction. At this time, the light intensities of the two linearly polarized lights emitted from the first beam splitter 41 are equal. The fast axis of the second quarter-wave plate 46 forms a -45-degree angle with the x direction. The light beam of the first light beam a and the light beam of the second light beam b become two orthogonal circularly polarized lights after passing through the second quarter-wave plate 46 after being emitted from the first beam splitter 41, where the two orthogonal circularly polarized lights interfere and become linearly polarized light At this time, the outgoing light of the polarization pattern generating component 4 is deflected clockwise by degrees compared with the incident light.

[0122] In another specific embodiment, assume that the incident light is natural light. The splitting ratio of the first beam splitter 41 is 1:1. The linearly polarized light of the first light beam a and the second light beam b is still in the x direction. The fast axis of the first quarter-wave plate 45 forms a +45-degree angle with the x direction. The linearly polarized light of the first light beam a becomes circularly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate 45 for the first time, and becomes linearly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate 45 for the second time The polarization direction is in the y direction. The crystal axis direction of the spatial light modulator 44 is parallel to the x direction. The spatial light modulator 44 modulates the incident light of the second light beam b, and the outgoing light after reflection is where δ is the phase delay formed by the spatial light modulator 44, and the polarization direction remains in the x direction. The fast axis of the second quarter-wave plate 46 forms an angle of -45 degrees with the x direction, and the light beam of the first light beam a and the light beam of the second light beam b After exiting from the beam splitter 1, pass through the second quarter-wave plate 46 and become two orthogonally circularly polarized light beams, where the two orthogonally circularly polarized light beams interfere and become linearly polarized light At this time, the outgoing light of the polarization pattern generating component 4 is deflected by degrees compared with the incident light.

[0123] In order to further optimize the implementation effect of the present invention, in some other embodiments of the patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment device based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference, the rest of the characteristic technologies are the same, and the difference is that, as Figure 2 shown, the polarization pattern generating component 4 includes: a spatial light modulator 44, a polarization beam splitter 47, a quarter-wave plate, and a mirror 42;

[0124] The incident light of the polarization pattern generating component 4 is unpolarized light, and this incident light forms a first light beam a and a second light beam b through the polarization beam splitter 47. The first light beam a is s-polarized light, and the second light beam b is p-polarized light;

[0125] The incident light of the first light beam a is reflected by the mirror 42, and the polarization direction of the outgoing light of the first light beam a after being reflected by the mirror 42 is perpendicular to the polarization direction of the p-polarized light;

[0126] The spatial light modulator 44 modulates the incident light of the second light beam b, performs phase modulation on the light field incident on its working surface and reflects it to form the outgoing light of the second light beam b, and the crystal axis direction of the spatial light modulator 44 is parallel to the polarization direction of the second light beam b;

[0127] After the outgoing light of the first light beam a and the outgoing light of the second light beam b pass through the polarization beam splitter 47 again and exit, they pass through the quarter-wave plate 48 and become two orthogonally circularly polarized light beams, realizing the interference of the two circularly polarized light beams and forming linearly polarized light.

[0128] Since the polarization pattern generating component 4 uses a polarization beam splitter 47, the illumination component 1 can only include: a light source component 11 and a collimating and beam expanding component 12.

[0129] On the other hand, the present invention also provides another patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment method based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0130] S1. The illumination component 1 provides a collimated unpolarized surface light source;

[0131] S2. The interference optical path is first initialized and calibrated. The non-polarized surface light source enters the polarization pattern generation component 4. Its incident light forms a first light beam a and a second light beam b through a polarization beam splitter 47. The first light beam a is an s-polarized light, and the second light beam b is a p-polarized light. The spatial light modulator 44 does not apply phase modulation to the light field of the second light beam b.

[0132] S3. The optical path calibration and monitoring component 5 calibrates and monitors the entire interference optical path of the polarization pattern generation component 4. When the spatial light modulator 44 does not apply phase modulation to the light field of the second light beam b, by driving the rotation of the analyzer 51 with a precision stepping motor, the maximum light intensity passing through the analyzer 51 is monitored by a photodetector 53, and the polarization direction angle θ of the analyzer 51 at this time is recorded. From the polarization direction angle, the phase difference between the first light beam a and the second light beam b can be obtained as 2θ, and then it is sent to the phase compensation component 6.

[0133] S4. The phase compensation component 6 performs phase compensation according to the polarization direction information of the linearly polarized light feedback by the optical path calibration and monitoring component 5. The phase compensation component 6 changes the optical path by changing the position of the mirror 42 in the polarization pattern generation component 4 according to the feedback information of the optical path calibration and monitoring component 5 to achieve phase compensation, so that the phase difference between the first light beam a and the second light beam b is 0 when the spatial light modulator 44 does not perform phase modulation on the incident light field.

[0134] S5. The patterning of the liquid crystal photoalignment officially starts. At this time, the optical path calibration and monitoring component does not need to work. The spatial light modulator 44 applies phase modulation to the light field of the second light beam b. The incident light of the first light beam a is reflected by the mirror 42, and the polarization direction of the outgoing light of the first light beam a after being reflected by the mirror 42 is perpendicular to the polarization direction of the p-polarized light. The spatial light modulator 44 modulates the incident light of the second light beam b, performs phase modulation on the light field incident on its working surface and reflects it to form the outgoing light of the second light beam b, and the crystal axis direction of the spatial light modulator 44 is parallel to the polarization direction of the second light beam b. After the outgoing light of the first light beam a and the outgoing light of the second light beam b pass through the polarization beam splitter 47 again and then pass through a quarter-wave plate, they become two orthogonally polarized circularly polarized lights, realizing the interference of the two circularly polarized lights to form a linearly polarized light.

[0135] S6. The pattern miniaturization component 2 miniaturizes the polarization pattern output by the polarization pattern generation component 4 and writes it into the photo-polarization sensitive material.

[0136] S7. The servo focusing component adjusts the distance between the imaging objective lens group and the photo-polarization sensitive material surface so that the focal plane of the imaging objective lens group always remains on the photo-polarization sensitive material surface.

[0137] S8. The single-shot photo-controlled alignment is recorded on the photo-polarization sensitive material.

[0138] S9. Move the platform 7 carrying the photo-polarization sensitive material to the next specified position for the next pattern light field recording.

[0139] After step S9, it may further include:

[0140] S10. Splice each orientation unit together to form a light orientation structure with a large-area polarized light pattern on the photo-polarization sensitive material.

[0141] The present invention proposes a projection-type liquid crystal optical orientation device and method based on the principle of circularly polarized light interference. By using the phase difference generated by the phase-type spatial light modulator LCOS, the polarization information of the circularly polarized light is controlled, so that the polarization direction of the linearly polarized light formed by the circularly polarized light interference is precisely controllable. And combined with the property of the photo-orientation material being sensitive to the polarization direction of the linearly polarized light, the directional arrangement of the liquid crystal can be realized. This device can complete the arbitrary orientation arrangement of the liquid crystal in any pixel space within the exposure area under single exposure. And through the movement of the two-dimensional workpiece platform, the splicing of multiple exposure fields can be completed to realize the control of the large-area liquid crystal orientation arrangement.

[0142] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0143] First, compared with the technology of DMD plus wave plate, under single exposure, the arbitrary orientation arrangement of the liquid crystal in the area corresponding to the pixels of the spatial light modulator 44 in the exposure area can be controlled, without the need to replace the mask multiple times, use the DMD to refresh the dynamic mask, and rotate the polarizer to change the polarization direction of the light.

[0144] Second, compared with the technical solution of LCOS plus wave plate, the spatial light modulator 44 LCOS does not need to be reflected at a certain angle and can achieve complete normal incidence. Compared with the LCOS reflective optical path, there is no error generated by paraxial light. The LCOS reflective optical path has strict requirements for paraxial light, requiring less than five degrees, and normal incidence avoids paraxial error.

[0145] Third, the interference of orthogonal circularly polarized light forms linearly polarized light, realizing the superposition of light intensity. Compared with the technical solution of the LCOS plus wave plate optical path, the requirement for the power of the light source component 11 is reduced.

[0146] Fourth, adopting the orthogonal circularly polarized light interference exposure optical path, using the principle that the interference of orthogonal circularly polarized light forms linearly polarized light, the phase modulation of the two beams of orthogonal circularly polarized light is carried out to realize the arbitrary change of the polarization direction of the linearly polarized light. Based on the reflective phase spatial light modulator 44, the phase difference δ within the pixel is controlled. After the interference of the orthogonal circularly polarized light, the polarization rotation angle of the linearly polarized light within the corresponding pixel is

[0147] Fifth, an optical path is automatically calibrated using a negative feedback system, with higher calibration accuracy. The compensation mentioned in other patents is all phase compensation using a spatial light modulator 44, while the compensation used in this patent is direct compensation for the optical path, reducing the error of phase modulation by the spatial light modulator 44 (voltage fluctuations will cause working errors of the spatial light modulator 44), and there is no need to recalibrate the spatial light modulator 44 every time the device is restarted.

[0148] Sixth, the mirror 42 is adjusted by combining a precision stepper motor 62 and a piezoelectric ceramic 61. The precision stepper motor 62 roughly adjusts the optical path, and the piezoelectric ceramic 61 finely adjusts the optical path, making the calibration accuracy of the optical path higher. And higher optical path accuracy can achieve higher accuracy of liquid crystal alignment, improving the accuracy of the prepared polarization optical device.

[0149] Seventh, the polarization pattern of the phase spatial light modulator 44 can be reduced or enlarged through the imaging lens group 8, which can balance the writing accuracy and efficiency;

[0150] Eighth, a polarization beam splitter can be used to obtain different orthogonal circularly polarized light interference exposure optical paths, without a polarizer 13 and a quarter-wave plate for changing the polarization direction of linearly polarized light.

[0151] Ninth, through the movement of the platform 7, high-quality large-area patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment can be achieved.

[0152] Any combination of the above optional technical solutions can form an optional embodiment of the present invention, which will not be elaborated here one by one.

[0153] It should be noted that when the patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment device based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference provided in the above embodiment executes a patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment method based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference, only the above division of each functional module is used for illustration. In practical applications, the above functions can be allocated to different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the device is divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above. In addition, the patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment device based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference and the patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment method embodiment provided in the above embodiment belong to the same concept. The specific implementation process can be seen in the method embodiment, which will not be elaborated here.

[0154] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included within the protection scope of the present invention. Regarding the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the inventive concept of the present invention, several variations and improvements can still be made, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A patterned liquid crystal photoalignment device based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference, comprising: An illumination component for providing a light source and achieving a collimated and uniform planar light spot; A pattern reduction component for reducing and projecting a modulated light field onto a photosensitive material; A focal length servo component including a vertical direction correction component for correcting the defocus phenomenon caused by movement; A motion control component for adjusting the spatial position of a platform carrying a photo-polarized photosensitive material to achieve light field stitching; characterized in that it further comprises: A polarization pattern generation component for forming two orthogonal circularly polarized lights and interfering the two orthogonal circularly polarized lights to form a linearly polarized light that meets the requirements of the polarization orientation angle; An optical path calibration and monitoring component for calibrating and monitoring the entire interference optical path of the polarization pattern generation component; A phase compensation component for performing phase compensation according to the linearly polarized light polarization direction information fed back by the optical path calibration and monitoring component, and the phase compensation component directly compensates the optical path in the polarization pattern generation component; The polarization pattern generation component includes: a spatial light modulator, a first beam splitter, a first quarter-wave plate, a second quarter-wave plate, and a mirror; The incident light of the polarization pattern generation component forms a first light beam and a second light beam after passing through the first beam splitter; The linearly polarized light of the first light beam becomes circularly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate for the first time. The mirror reflects the incident light of the first light beam that has passed through the first quarter-wave plate for the first time. The outgoing light of the first light beam after reflection becomes linearly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate for the second time, and the polarization direction of this linearly polarized light is perpendicular to the polarization direction of the initial incident light of the first light beam; The spatial light modulator modulates the incident light of the second light beam, performs phase modulation on the light field incident on its working surface and reflects it to form the outgoing light of the second light beam; After the outgoing light of the first light beam and the outgoing light of the second light beam pass through the first beam splitter again and then pass through the second quarter-wave plate, they become two orthogonal circularly polarized lights, realizing the interference of the two circularly polarized lights to form a linearly polarized light; The phase compensation component includes: a stepping motor and a piezoelectric ceramic, and the piezoelectric ceramic is connected to the mirror; The phase compensation component performs phase compensation by changing the position of the mirror to change the optical path according to the feedback information of the optical path calibration and monitoring component, so that the phase difference between the first light beam and the second light beam is 0 when the spatial light modulator does not perform phase modulation on the incident light field; The optical path calibration and monitoring component includes: a polarizer, a first focusing lens, and a photodetector.

2. A patterned liquid crystal photoalignment device based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference, comprising: An illumination component for providing a light source and achieving a collimated and uniform planar light spot; A pattern reduction component for reducing and projecting a modulated light field onto a photosensitive material; A focal length servo component including a vertical direction correction component for correcting the defocus phenomenon caused by movement; A motion control component for adjusting the spatial position of a platform carrying a photo-polarized photosensitive material to achieve light field stitching; characterized in that it further comprises: A polarization pattern generating component, which is used to form two orthogonal circularly polarized lights, and interfere the two orthogonal circularly polarized lights to form a linearly polarized light that meets the requirements of the polarization orientation angle; An optical path calibration and monitoring component, which is used to calibrate and monitor the entire interference optical path of the polarization pattern generating component; A phase compensation component, which is used to perform phase compensation according to the linearly polarized light polarization direction information fed back by the optical path calibration and monitoring component, and the phase compensation component directly compensates the optical path in the polarization pattern generating component; The polarization pattern generating component includes: a spatial light modulator, a polarization beam splitter, a quarter-wave plate, and a mirror; The incident light of the polarization pattern generating component is unpolarized light, and this incident light forms a first light beam and a second light beam through the polarization beam splitter. The first light beam is s-polarized light, and the second light beam is p-polarized light; The incident light of the first light beam is reflected by the mirror, and the polarization direction of the outgoing light of the first light beam after being reflected by the mirror is perpendicular to the polarization direction of the p-polarized light; The spatial light modulator modulates the incident light of the second light beam, performs phase modulation on the light field incident on its working surface and reflects it to form the outgoing light of the second light beam, and the crystal axis direction of the spatial light modulator is parallel to the polarization direction of the second light beam; After the outgoing light of the first light beam and the outgoing light of the second light beam pass through the polarization beam splitter again and then pass through the quarter-wave plate, they become two orthogonal circularly polarized lights, realizing the interference of the two circularly polarized lights to form a linearly polarized light; The phase compensation component includes: a stepper motor and a piezoelectric ceramic, and the piezoelectric ceramic is connected to the mirror; The phase compensation component performs phase compensation by changing the position of the mirror to change the optical path according to the feedback information of the optical path calibration and monitoring component, so that the phase difference between the first light beam and the second light beam is 0 when the spatial light modulator does not perform phase modulation on the incident light field; The optical path calibration and monitoring component includes: a polarizer, a first focusing lens, and a photodetector.

3. The patterned liquid crystal photoalignment device based on the interference of orthogonal circularly polarized lights according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The outgoing light of the polarization pattern generating component enters the pattern reduction component, the optical path calibration and monitoring component, and the focal length servo component respectively after passing through the second beam splitter.

4. The patterned liquid crystal photoalignment device based on the interference of orthogonal circularly polarized lights according to claim 3, characterized in that The first focusing lens is arranged between the polarizer and the photodetector. After the incident light of the optical path calibration and monitoring component passes through the polarizer and the first focusing lens in sequence, it is monitored by the photodetector.

5. The patterned liquid crystal photoalignment device based on the interference of orthogonal circularly polarized lights according to claim 4, characterized in that The focal length servo component includes: a second focusing lens, a CCD, a monitoring light source, and a third beam splitter; The second focusing lens is arranged between the third beam splitter and the CCD.

6. The patterned liquid crystal photoalignment device based on the interference of orthogonal circularly polarized lights according to claim 5, characterized in that The optical path from the second beam splitter to the CCD receiving surface is equal to the optical path from the second beam splitter to the workpiece.

7. A patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment method based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference, characterized in that photo-alignment is performed using the patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment device as described in claim 1, and specifically includes the following steps: S1. The illumination component provides a collimated polarized plane light source; S2. The interference optical path is first initialized and calibrated. The polarized plane light source enters the polarization pattern generation component. Its incident light forms a first light beam and a second light beam after passing through the first beam splitter. The spatial light modulator does not apply a phase modulation to the light field of the second light beam; S3. The optical path calibration and monitoring component calibrates and monitors the entire interference optical path of the polarization pattern generation component. When the spatial light modulator does not apply phase modulation to the light field of the second beam, the analyzer is rotated by driving the precision stepper motor, and the maximum light intensity passing through the analyzer is monitored by the photodetector, and the polarization direction angle of the analyzer at this time is recorded. From the polarization direction angle, the phase difference between the first beam and the second beam can be obtained as 2 , and then it is sent to the phase compensation component. S4. The phase compensation component performs phase compensation according to the linear polarization direction information of the linearly polarized light feedback by the optical path calibration monitoring component. The phase compensation component changes the optical path by changing the position of the mirror in the polarization pattern generation component according to the feedback information of the optical path calibration monitoring component to achieve phase compensation, so that the phase difference between the first light beam and the second light beam is 0 when the spatial light modulator does not perform phase modulation on the incident light field, and the initialization calibration is completed; S5. The patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment work officially starts. At this time, the optical path calibration monitoring component does not need to work. The spatial light modulator applies a phase modulation to the light field of the second light beam. The linearly polarized light of the first light beam becomes circularly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate for the first time. The mirror reflects the incident light of the first light beam that has passed through the first quarter-wave plate for the first time. The outgoing light of the reflected first light beam becomes linearly polarized light after passing through the first quarter-wave plate for the second time, and the polarization direction of this linearly polarized light is perpendicular to the polarization direction of the incident light of the first light beam initially; the spatial light modulator modulates the incident light of the second light beam, performs phase modulation on the light field incident on its working surface and reflects it to form the outgoing light of the second light beam; After the outgoing light of the first light beam and the outgoing light of the second light beam pass through the first beam splitter again and then pass through the second quarter-wave plate, they become two orthogonal circularly polarized lights, realizing the interference of the two circularly polarized lights to form linearly polarized light; S6. The pattern reduction component reduces the polarization pattern output by the polarization pattern generation component and writes it into the photo-polarization sensitive material; S7. The servo focusing component adjusts the distance between the imaging objective lens group and the photo-polarization sensitive material surface so that the focal plane of the imaging objective lens group always remains on the photo-polarization sensitive material surface; S8. Record the single-time photo-controlled alignment on the photo-polarization sensitive material; S9. Move the platform carrying the photo-polarization sensitive material to the next specified position for the next pattern light field recording.

8. A patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment method based on orthogonal circularly polarized light interference, characterized in that photo-alignment is performed using the patterned liquid crystal photo-alignment device as described in claim 2, and specifically includes the following steps: S1. The illumination component provides a collimated non-polarized plane light source; S2. The interference optical path is first initialized and calibrated. The non-polarized plane light source enters the polarization pattern generation component. Its incident light forms a first light beam and a second light beam after passing through the polarization beam splitter. The first light beam is s-polarized light and the second light beam is p-polarized light. The spatial light modulator does not apply a phase modulation to the light field of the second light beam; S3. The optical path calibration monitoring component calibrates and monitors the entire interference optical path of the polarization pattern generation component. When the spatial light modulator does not apply phase modulation to the light field of the second beam, the analyzer is rotated by driving the precision stepper motor, and the maximum light intensity passing through the analyzer is monitored by the photodetector, and the polarization direction angle of the analyzer at this time is recorded. , from the polarization direction angle, it can be obtained that the phase difference between the first beam and the second beam is 2 , and then it is sent to the phase compensation component; S4. The phase compensation component performs phase compensation according to the linear polarization direction information of the linearly polarized light fed back by the optical path calibration and monitoring component. The phase compensation component changes the optical path by changing the position of the mirror in the polarization pattern generation component according to the feedback information of the optical path calibration and monitoring component, so as to achieve phase compensation, making the phase difference between the first light beam and the second light beam be 0 when the spatial light modulator does not perform phase modulation on the incident light field, and completing the initialization calibration; S5. The patterning of the liquid crystal photo-alignment is officially started. At this time, the optical path calibration and monitoring component does not need to work. The spatial light modulator applies phase modulation to the light field of the second light beam. The incident light of the first light beam is reflected by the mirror, and the polarization direction of the outgoing light of the first light beam after being reflected by the mirror is perpendicular to the polarization direction of the p-polarized light. The spatial light modulator modulates the incident light of the second light beam, performs phase modulation on the light field incident on its working surface and reflects it to form the outgoing light of the second light beam, and the crystal axis direction of the spatial light modulator is parallel to the polarization direction of the second light beam. After the outgoing light of the first light beam and the outgoing light of the second light beam pass through the polarization beam splitter again and then pass through a quarter-wave plate, they become two orthogonally polarized circularly polarized light beams, realizing the interference of the two circularly polarized light beams to form linearly polarized light; S6. The pattern reduction component reduces the polarization pattern output by the polarization pattern generation component and writes it into the photo-polarization sensitive material; S7. The servo focusing component adjusts the distance between the imaging objective lens group and the photo-polarization sensitive material surface so that the focal plane of the imaging objective lens group always remains on the photo-polarization sensitive material surface; S8. Record the single-time photo-controlled alignment on the photo-polarization sensitive material; S9. Move the platform carrying the photo-polarization sensitive material to the next specified position for the next pattern light field recording.

Images