WO1998013722A1 - Liquid crystal display devices using a polymeric support layer - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a novel liquid crystal device design and a process to manufacture the design. The design advantageously utilizes a plastic support layer in place of the conventional glass substrate in LCDs. In one embodiment, the polarizer is placed between the plastic support layer and a transparent cover.

Description

Liquid Crystal Display Devices Using a Polymeric Support Layer

Field of the Invention

This invention is generally related to the field of Liquid Crystal Display devices ("LCDs"). It specifically discloses LCDs which are fabricated on an unconventional novel support layer structure, which allows the use of a wide class of plastic substrate materials thereby conferring several advantages on the design and utility of the devices.

Background of the Invention LCDs are widely used components in applications such as, for example, Notebook Personal Computers (PCs), calculators, watches, liquid crystal color TVs, word processors, automotive instrument panels, and the like. A useful review article on LCDs, for example, is "Digital Displays" by P. A. Penz et al in Kirk- Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Third edition, Volume 7, page 726 (1979), Wiley-fnterscience Publication, John Wiley & Sons, New York. There are several kinds of LCDs such as, for example, twisted nematic ("TN") devices, supertwisted nematic ("STN") devices, and the like. Many of these are described, for instance, by M. G. Clark, "Liquid Crystal Devices", Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology, second edition, Robert A. Meyers, ed., Academic Press, Inc., New York, Vol. 9, page 41 (1992), as well as in "Liquid Crystals- Applications and Uses", Volumes 1-3, B. Bahadur, ed., World Scientific Publishing Co., River Edge, New Jersey, 1995. The operation of an LCD may be either in the transmissive mode or in the reflective mode. The design of the device is slightly different in the two types. Such designs are described in, for example, the above-noted three-volume set, "Liquid Crystals- Applications and Uses". Typical conventional LCD's comprise two laminate structures on both sides of a liquid crystal material in a sandwich configuration (Fig. 1(a)). The laminate structures comprise glass substrates which have functional layers (Fig. 1(b)) deposited upon their inner surfaces (surface toward the liquid crystal). The outside surfaces of the sandwich are affixed with a polarizer film. A back light system provides the light. Other optional layers such as, for example, color filters, active matrix transistors, adhesive layer and the like, may also be present. A typical conventional reflective mode LCD design is similar to the transmissive mode explained above except that a mirror is attached to one outside surface (in place of the back light system) (see Fig. 4). In the operation, the polarizer film allows transmission of plane polarized light into and out of the liquid crystal cell. Because the (glass) substrates are positioned between the polarizers and the liquid crystal material, the substrates must have minimal effect on the degree of polarization of the light passing through them. Consequently low optical retardation is required in the substrates.

Glass which has low retardation, however, has a relatively high density and is easily broken if subjected to impact. With glass, there is also design inflexibility, bulk and weight of the device. Thin glasses are difficult to be handled in a large scale manufacturing plant. Special protection is required for packaging of glass substrate-based LCD's. Consequently, there has been a significant effort to replace the glass with material having lower density and greater impact resistance. Organic polymers are logical choices for replacement materials. While simple in concept, in practice this approach faces many practical challenges. The optical, chemical, thermal and barrier properties and other properties required in a direct replacement for glass are difficult to combine in a synthetic material. Thus, for example: (i) the barrier properties of plastics to oxygen and moisture are generally poor; liquid crystals generally tend to degrade in oxygen and water; (ii) the processing temperatures for plastics are not compatible with the other layers; for example, the polyimide alignment layers require high processing temperatures, around 200°C and most plastics degrade under such conditions; (iii) the birefringence of plastics is high while glass is virtually non-birefringent; birefringence must be low since there is a polarizer in the design. As a result, the thus-far developed plastic based LCD's utilize rigid plastic substrates which are coated with various layers to achieve the other properties such as barrier, chemical resistance, etc. Discussions about such plastic-based LCDs may be found in the above-referred Display Devices (Spring 1993), No. 7, page 22-23; and K. Fujimura, Display Devices (Spring 1994), No. 9, page 18-20.

JP 6,044,826 (1994) discloses polyethersulfone ("PES") layer as a high temperature polymer as a substrate material for LCDs. This polymer may be processed at around 180°C and thus is compatible with the polyimide alignment layer. Y. Tokai et al, "Plastic thin Film for Static and Dot-Matrix LCDs", Electronic Displays and Information Systems, Papers from the SAE International Congress and Exposition, Detroit, Michigan (February 24-28, 1986), SAE Special Publications SP-654, published by SAE The Engineering Resource for Advancing Mobility, Warrendale, Pennsylvania, page 15-19 (1986), also describe the use of PES as LCD substrate. A commercial product from PES with trade names FST- 1351^®, FST-1330^®, FST-1343^®, FST-1357^® are also available from Sumitomo Bakelite Company Ltd., Tokyo, Japan. While PES satisfies the temperature requirements, it suffers from other drawbacks. Thus, for example, PES substrate has to be cast from solvents which in many cases are detrimental to the other layers in the LCD. Furthermore, its barrier properties to oxygen and moisture are not high. Thus, a 4 mil (100 μm) thick PES substrate transports oxygen on the order of about 200 cc/meter²/day which is unsuitable for the liquid crystal. Past workers tried to improve barrier properties by adding additional protective layers. Such improvements, however, resulted in the addition of several layers onto the already multilayer laminate design thus adding considerably to manufacturing costs, as well as to cumbersome manufacturing.

Thus, in order for a plastic substrate to replace glass in LCDs, stringent requirements exist. Some of them are, for example: high transparency (at least 50 % transmission); low retardation (<15 nm in the visible range of light); high temperature processability (120 to 280 °C); resistance to LCD processing chemicals (particularly harsh solvents such as, for example, N-methylpyrrolidinone ("NMP"); good gas barrier properties to oxygen and moisture; low metal ion contamination; low out-gassing; light weight; less fragile (compared to glass). So far, it has not been possible to satisfy all these requirements with conventional design, processes and materials.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel LCD design which incorporates a plastic support layer and is at the same time economical and less cumbersome to manufacture.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide an LCD structure which is superior to existing designs and also makes it possible to use plastic support layers.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a process to manufacture LCDs which process is economical and also uses a plastic support layer.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying description, drawings and examples.

Brief Description of the Drawings The invention is described in detail below with reference to Fig. 1(a), Fig.

1(b), Fig. 2(a), Fig. 2(b), Fig. 3, Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 which are cross-sectional views. Fig. 1(a) and Fig. 1(b) together form Fig. 1 which represents the liquid crystal cell of a conventional transmissive mode LCD, containing glass substrate. Fig. 1(a) is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal cell while Fig. 1(b) shows a sectional view of a laminate structure in that cell. Fig. 2(a) and Fig. 2(b) together form Fig. 2 and represent the inventive LCD in the transmissive mode, containing plastic support layer. Fig. 2(a) shows a cross-sectional view of an inventive liquid crystal cell while Fig. 2(b) is a sectional view of a laminate structure in that cell. Fig. 3 shows the inventive LCD in the reflective mode containing plastic support layer. Fig. 4 shows a conventional reflective mode LCD containing glass substrate. Fig. 5 compares the conventional design (Fig. 5(a)) with the inventive design (Fig. 5(b)) in cross-sectional views. Summary of the .b vention

One or more of the foregoing objects are achieved by the provision of the instant LCD structure and process to manufacture such a structure. In the present invention, the LCD cell structure is suitably redesigned thus enabling division of the required properties between two different layers which now replace the conventional glass substrate. The two layers are: a flexible plastic support layer and a transparent cover. The polarizer is placed between these two. See Fig. 5(b)) versus the conventional in Fig. 5(a). The flexible plastic support film possesses the desired optical, barrier, thermal and chemical resistance properties and is present on the side closer to the liquid crystal. The transparent cover is present on the outside providing physical support for the cell and the required rigidity. Since the polarizer is placed between the support film and the transparent cover, the optical requirements for the cover are now reduced to providing the required optical transmission only. Optical retardation requirements are elmiinated, since the polarizer is between the cover and the support film. This novel design also enables one to select from a wide choice of polymeric materials for the two layers, allows the use of a thin plastic support layer and is also compatible with conventional construction methods and materials. The basic structure thus is plastic support layer/polarizer/cover. In an inventive LCD in the transmissive mode, two identical laminate structures are present on both sides- the top side and the bottom side- of a liquid crystal material and they form a sandwich structure separated by a spacer similar to that in conventional design. The reflective mode LCD is similar to the transmissive mode LCD except that the bottom laminate structure is replaced by the layer structure shown in Fig. 4. The laminate structure in the transmissive mode comprises: (a) a polarizer flanked on the first side by a thin plastic support layer, and on the second and opposite side by a transparent protective cover; (b) a conducting layer on the plastic support layer on the side opposite to the polarizer; and (c) an alignment layer on the conducting layer on the side opposite to the conducting layer. The alignment layer faces the liquid crystal in the sandwich to form the liquid crystal cell of the LCD. There may be other optional layers such as, for example, adhesive layers, color filters, anti-scratch layers, active matrix arrays and the like. However, the basic order: liquid crystal/ alignment layer/ conducting layer/ plastic support layer/ polarizer / transparent protective cover is maintained in the laminate structure. In the reflective mode, the top laminate is similar to the one described above, but the bottom one comprises: (a) a polarizer flanked on the one side by a plastic support layer and on the other side by a mirror; (b) a conducting layer on the plastic support layer on the side opposite to the polarizer; and (c) an alignment layer on the conducting layer on the side opposite to the conducting layer. The alignment layer faces the liquid crystal in the sandwich to form the liquid crystal cell of the LCD. Again, there may be other optional layers. The mirror may be a separate layer or, in the alternative, the polarizer layer may have the mirror directly and intimately coated thereon.

The invention further discloses a process to manufacture liquid crystal cells for LCDs. Thus, in one illustration, the process for a transmissive mode LCD comprises the steps: (a) coating a thin plastic support layer on the one side with a conducting layer; (b) forming an alignment layer on the conducting layer; (c) affixing a polarizer to the plastic support layer on its side opposite to the conducting layer; (d) attaching the polarizer to a protective cover; and (e) suitably laminating the above-described design on the alignment layer side to a liquid crystal to form the liquid crystal cell. The order of these steps may be modified suitably as one skilled in the art knows. These steps may also be suitably modified for mirror-coating in the case of a reflective mode LCD. Thus, the device is almost substantially built on the plastic support layer. The inventive design and process have several advantages. It allows the use of thin plastic as support layer. By keeping the plastic support layer substantially thin, the requirements for transparency and low birefringence are advantageously met with relative ease. With a thin plastic support layer, the optical path length is short and one can achieve the desired transparency virtually with any plastic material as long as it supports the temperature processing conditions. The same is true for retardation (a measure of birefringence). By substantially reducing the constraints imposed by optical quality and retardation, the invention allows one to choose the plastic support layer from a wide variety of polymeric materials. Since practically all the LCD processing is done on the plastic support layer in the present design, high temperature requirement is no longer imposed on the other layers. In addition, by placing the polarizer between the plastic support layer and the transparent cover layer, the transparent cover layer is freed from retardation requirements. Thus, any transparent material with a good mechanical property can be used as the transparent cover layer. In the reflective mode too, the inventive design allows the use of thin plastic support layer thus allowing the mirror to be placed in close contact with the liquid crystal cell. Such an arrangement minimizes the parallax problem commonly associated with the reflective mode operation of conventional LCDs.

Description of the Invention

In one embodiment, this invention provides a novel LCD structure. In another embodiment, it provides a process to manufacture such a structure. By placing the polarizer inside, the present design allows the use of a thin plastic support layer in LCDs in place of the conventional glass substrate and at the same time fits well with conventional methods of manufacture, while avoiding excessive number of layers in the design.

The liquid crystal cell is a sandwich comprising a liquid crystal and laminate structures similar to conventional LCDs. The transmissive mode LCD of the invention is illustrated in view of Fig. 2 which shows the liquid crystal cell 30 in Fig. 2(a) and its laminate structure 40 in Fig. 2(b) as cross-sectional views. The liquid crystal cell 30 comprises two laminate structures 40 sandwiching the liquid crystal 60. For comparison purposes, a conventional LCD is shown in Fig. 1 which shows the liquid crystal cell 10 in Fig. 1(a) and its laminate structure 14 in Fig. 1(b) as cross-sectional views. The reflective mode LCD of the invention is illustrated in view of Fig. 3. The liquid crystal cell 70 comprises: a laminate structure (same as 40 above containing layers 46, 44, 42, 48 and 50) on the one side, and a laminate structure-with-mirror 74 (containing layers 46, 44, 42, 48 and mirror 49) on the other side sandwiching the liquid crystal 72. For comparison purposes, a conventional reflective mode LCD is shown in Fig. 4 which shows the liquid crystal cell 80 containing a laminate structure (with glass substrate) 82 and a laminate st cture-wiώ-mirror 84 flanking a liquid crystal 86. As one skilled in the art knows, the term "mirror" refers to any reflective surface.

The novel construction of the present invention is not only compatible with conventional methods of manufacture of LCDs, but can also advantageously utilize some of the same conventional materials for several of the layers. Many such materials for the various layers and processes for using them are known in t e literature. See, for example, "Liquid Crystals- Applications and Uses", Volumes 1, referred to earlier, pages 171-194 (1995).

In the laminate structure 40 of Fig. 2(b) and Fig. 3, 42 represents a plastic support layer which is substantially thinner than a conventional glass substrate. Conventional glass substrate in a liquid crystal cell has thickness in the range of 0.4-1.2 mm. The plastic support layer in the inventive design has thickness generally in the range lμm-1 mm, preferably 2μm-100μm, and typically 5μm- 20μm. Use of such thin support layers offers several advantages. The ultimate LCD tends to be of desirable compact size and less weight. Furthermore, by keeping the thickness small, one can accommodate high birefringence in the plastic material. This is because retardation in a material is a product of its birefringence and the path length (thickness) of the light; a thinner material, therefore, substantially reduces the effect of the birefringence on its retardation. Similarly, when the thickness is small, a plastic which may otherwise be considered semitransparent, may offer sufficient transparency to make the device useful for intended applications. Thus, many kinds of polymeric materials, which could not be used as support layers in the conventional design due to high birefringence and reduced transparency, may now be used as plastic support layers as long as they meet the temperature requirements for processing. Some illustrative polymers are: liquid crystal polymers ("LCPs" such as, for example, the VECTRA^® brand LCP sold commercially by Hoechst Technical Polymers, Summit, New Jersey), polyimides (such as, for example, the KAPTON brand polyimide available from E.I duPont deNemours and Co., Wilmington, Delaware), polyparaphenylene ("PPP", available from Maxdem, Inc., San Dimas, California), poly (ethylene naphthalene 2,6-dicarboxylate, "PEN"), poly(ethylene naphthalate-co-2,6- bibenzoate, "PENBB"), polyethylene terephthalate ("PET"), polycarbonate ("PC"), cycloolefin copolymers ("COC", such as, for example, TOPAS^® available from Hoechst Technical Polymers), polyphenylene sulfide ("PPS"), PES (polyether sulfone), polyether ether ketones ("PEEK"), polysulfones, polyacrylates (e.g., crosslinked polymethyl methacrylate,"PMMA") and the like and mixtures thereof. The VECTRA^® brand liquid crystal polymers are preferred materials since their barrier properties to oxygen and moisture are quite high. For example, for oxygen, the tranportation rate is on the order of 0.1 cc/ m²/ day for a 25 μm thick film of VECTRA^®. Polyimide is also a suitable polymer.

The selected polymeric material may be cast as support layer 42 by well known processes such as, for example, extrusion, solution casting, injection molding, compression molding and the like. Such flexibility does not exist with conventional glass substrates. Extrusion is a preferred method, especially melt extrusion which avoids use of harsh solvents. The other layers in the laminate construction may also be fabricated by similar methods. Curing, where appropriate, may be performed by photocuring, thermal curing, and the like.

A transparent conductive layer 44 is deposited on support layer 42 by a suitable process. If necessary, the support layer may be suitably prepared for such a coating; such processes are well known in the industry. Suitable conductive coatings as well as their deposition processes are also well known in the art. Some are, for example, indium-tin-oxide ("ITO"), zinc oxide, conducting polymers, and the like. A preferred conductive coating is ITO which may be, for example, vacuum deposited or sputtered on to the support layer. The ITO coating has thickness generally in the range 100 BAngstroms-1 μ , preferably 200-1,000 Angstroms, and typically 500-1,000 Angstroms. After the coating, the ITO layer may be patterned by suitable techniques such as, for example, lithography if so desired. The conductive coating 44 may be substituted by an active matrix transistor too, as is well known in the art.

An alignment layer 46 is then deposited on the conductive coating. Several materials are known for this purpose: both inorganic (e.g., Group UIB, Group IVA and Group IVB metal compounds such as alkoxides, halides, chelates, acrylates and the like, zirconium acetylacetonate, and the like) and organic (polyimides, polyamides and the like); polyimides are the most preferred. Polyimides are commonly deposited by spin coating from a solution followed by curing and rubbing. The alignment layer has thickness generally in the range 10 Angstroms- 1 μm, preferably 100-1,000 Angstroms, and typically 100-500.Angstroms. The above assembly is then affixed to a polarizer 48. Polarizers for LCD applications, both inorganic-based and organic-based, are well known. A common polarizer is based on polyvinyl acetate doped with iodine. Such a polarizer is commercially available, for example, from Nitto Denko Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, under the trade name NPF-G1220DV^®. Several organic polymer-dye based polarizers and liquid crystal polymer-dye based polarizers are also known. Suitable liquid crystal polymer-based polarizers are described, for example, in pending patent application Serial No. 08/460,288 filed June 2, 1995.

The construction may then be affixed with the transparent cover layer 50. Virtually any transparent material with a good mechanical property may be used as the transparent cover layer. Examples are: polymethyl methacrylate ("PMMA"), PET, PC, COC and the like and mixtures thereof. The transparent cover layer has thickness in the range generally in the 20μm-2 mm, preferably 40μm-l mm, and typically 40μm-100μm. The sandwich structure cell 30 is then constructed from 40 and the liquid crystal 60 by conventional methods. As an alternative method of construction, after the alignment layer goes on the conducting layer in the above process, two thus-far-built laminates may be brought together into a sandwich, with a suitable spacer in between, so as to create a cell in the middle for the liquid crystal 60. The cell may then be filled with a suitable liquid crystal material. A polarizer may then be laminated on the outside on the exposed side of each plastic support layer, and then the transparent cover sheet is deposited suitably thereon. Furthermore, in the above methods of construction, any suitable two layers may be combined into a single layer. For example, the cover layer may contain the polarizer part on its inside as an integral part of the cover layer. Similarly, the polarizer may exist on the support layer as an integral single layer. Such and similar modifications are well within the knowledge of the skilled artisan and are within the scope of this invention.

Other additional optional layers may also be included in the construction such as, for example adhesive layer, retardation film anti-scratch film, and the like. Such materials may be polymeric or glass. However, the inventive plastic support layer/polarizer/transparent cover sheet structure is maintained in order to take advantage of the present design. Thus, for example, one of the laminates in the sandwich liquid crystal cell may be one prepared according to this invention, while the other laminate may be of conventional design with a glass substrate containing polarizer on the outside.

For comparison, a conventional LCD is illustrated below with reference to the cross-sectional view represented in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 (a) represents the view of the liquid crystal cell 10 comprising the liquid crystal 12 sandwiched between the laminate structures 14. 14 is represented in Fig. 1(b). As can be noticed, the polarizer 22 is on the outside laminated to the glass support layer 20 which in turn is affixed to the conducting layer 18 (e.g., ITO). The alignment layer 16 ( e.g., polyimide) is on the conducting layer on its side away from the glass substrate. 16 is facing the liquid crystal 12 in Fig. 1(a). This design, however, has the drawbacks attendant with use of glass mentioned earlier. Even if the glass is replaced by a plastic while preserving the same construction format, it still has the disadvantages such as high birefringence problems, temperature limitations and so on. By moving the polarizer to the inside of the structure, the present design surprisingly allows one to avoid such disadvantages while at the same time keeping the manufacturing operations compatible with existent methods. Furthermore, it avoids excessive number of layers and thus keeps the costs economical.

The operation of the device is similar to conventional devices. Thus, in the transmissive mode LCD of Fig. 2, the light from the back light system first goes through the transparent cover layer 50 and then through the polarizer 48. The linearly polarized light emerging from the polarizer then passes through layers 42, 44, 46, 60 and on the opposite side through 46, 44, 42, and 48. The image formation process is identical to conventional method. The image formed at the upper polarizer layer now passes through the cover layer 50 and finally reaches the viewers.

The operation in the reflective mode shown in Fig. 3 is similar to the transmissive mode except that ambient light passes througli laminate 40 in the same manner as in the transmissive mode from the back light system. The light then passes through layers 44, 46, 42 and 48. At this stage, the image is formed which in turn is reflected from mirror 49 and then passes through the layers in the reverse order. In the reflective mode, the incident light and the reflected light must pass through the same pixel. In the conventional reflective mode LCD (Fig. 4), where there is a fairly thick glass substrate, the incident beam must be strictly kept normal to the liquid crystal cell in order to avoid image distortion. This severely restricts the viewing angle in the conventional reflective mode LCD. The present design, on the other hand, allows the use of a very thin substrate as the support layer. This brings the liquid crystal cell into close contact with the mirror thereby minimizing image distortion. The viewing angle is also not limited.

The following EXAMPLE is provided in order to further illustrate the construction of a liquid crystal cell according to the present invention. The EXAMPLE is only illustrative and not to be considered as any limitation on the scope of the invention. Examples Example 1. Transmissive LCD using a polymeric support layer: Two laminates are prepared as follows each containing the following: A Vectra^® brand liquid crystal polymer is cast as support layer film 42 by an extrusion method well known in the liquid crystal polymer art. The thickness of the film is about 15 μm. About 500 Angstroms of ITO layer 44 is deposited on support layer 42 by a sputtering process. After the coating, the ITO layer is patterned by photolithography. Polyimide alignment layer 46 is then spun on the conductive coating from a solution of the polyimide in a solvent such as NMP followed by curing and rubbing. The alignment layer thickness is about 200 Angstroms. The two laminates are brought together into a sandwich structure, with about 8 μm polymeric spacer bead in between using thermally curable epoxy adhesive following conventional LCD processing technology, so as to create a cell in the middle for the liquid crystal 60. The laminate may now be sliced up to individual transmissive mode devices. The edges of the devices are sealed, except a small filling hole provided as a part of one side of each cell, using thermally curable epoxy adhesive, again following conventional LCD processing technology. The cell is then filled with a suitable liquid crystal material. The filling hole is now plugged by a UV curable epoxy adhesive, again following the conventional process. A commercial polarizer is then laminated on the outside on the exposed side of each plastic support layer, and then a 100 μm PET film laminated on top of the polarizer as a transparent cover sheet.

Example 2. Reflective mode LCD using a polymeric support layer: A support layer film is prepared in the same manner as in Example 1. About 1000 Angstroms of aluminum mirror layer 49 is deposited on the support layer film by sputtering. Following the procedure described above, ITO and alignment layers are successively built up on the opposite side of the aluminum layer of the support film. This laminate and a laminate described in Example 1 are brought together into a reflective mode display sandwich following the process described in Example 1. However, in this case cover sheet is laminated only on the non-mirror side.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A liquid crystal display device comprising a liquid crystal and one or more laminate structures, said laminate structure comprising a polarizer, a plastic support layer and a transparent cover, wherein said polarizer is positioned between said plastic support layer and said transparent cover.

2. The device of claim 1 further comprising one or more layers selected from alignment layer, conducting layer, adhesive layer, anti-scratch layer, oxygen barrier layer, moisture barrier layer, difiuser layer, retardation layer and color filter.

3. The device of claim 1 operating in the transmissive mode.

4. The device of claim 1 operating in the reflective mode.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein said plastic support layer is selected from the group consisting of liquid crystal polymer, polyester, polyimide, polycarbonate, cyclic olefin copolymer, polysulfone, polyphenylene, polyether ether ketone, polyparaphenylene, polyacrylate and mixtures thereof.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein said plastic support layer is a liquid crystal polymer.

7. The device of claim 5, wherein said plastic support layer is a polyimide.

8. The device of claim 5, wherein said plastic support layer is a polysulfone.

9. The device of claim 5, wherein said plastic support layer is a melt- extruded support layer.

10. The device of claim 5, wherein said plastic support layer has a thickness in the range lμm-lmm.

11. The device of claim 5, wherein said plastic support layer has a thickness in the range 2μm-100μm.

12. The device of claim 5, wherein said plastic support layer has a thickness in the range 5μm-20μm.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein said polarizer is a polyvinyl alcohol- iodine polarizer.

14. The device of claim 1, where said polarizer is a polyvinyl alcohol- organic dye polarizer.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein said polarizer is a liquid crystal polymer-based polarizer.

16. The device of claim 2, wherein said conducting material is selected from the group consisting of indium-tin-oxide, zinc oxide and conducting polymer.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein said conducting material is indium- tin-oxide.

18. The device of claim 2, wherein said conducting material has a thickness in the range 100 Angstroms- 1 μm.

19. The device of claim 2, wherein said conducting material has a thickness in the range 200-1,000 Angstroms.

20. The device of claim 2, wherein said conducting material has a thickness in the range 500-1,000 Angstroms.

21. The device of claim 2, wherein said alignment layer is selected from the group consisting of polyimide, polyamide, Group HTB metal compounds, Group IVA metal compounds, Group IVB metal compounds and mixtures thereof.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein said alignment layer is a polyimide.

23. The device of claim 2, wherein said alignment layer has a thickness in the range 10 Angstroms- 1 μm.

24. The device of claim 2, wherein said alignment layer has a thickness in the range 100-1,000 Angstroms.

25. The device of claim 2, wherein said alignment layer has a thickness in the range 100-500 Angstroms.

26. The device of claim 1, wherein said cover material is selected from polyacrylate, polyester, polycarbonate, glass and mixtures thereof.

27. The device of claim 1, wherein said cover material has thickness in the range 20 μm-2mm.

28. The device of claim 1, wherein said polarizer and said plastic support layer are combined into a single layer.

29. The device of claim 1, wherein said cover material and said polarizer are combined into a single layer.

30. A liquid crystal display device comprising a liquid crystal and a first laminate structure and a second laminate structure, wherein said first laminate structure comprises a polarizer, a plastic support layer and a transparent cover with said polarizer being positioned between said plastic support layer and said transparent cover, and said second laminate structure comprising a glass substrate and a polarizer.

31. A method of fabricating a liquid crystal cell having a top and bottom exterior surfaces for a display device, comprising:

(i) (a) preparing a first support film from a suitable polymer with said film having a top side and a bottom side; (b) disposing a first conducting material on said top side of said first support film; and (c) providing a first alignment material on said bottom side of said first conducting material;

(ii) (a) preparing a second support film from a suitable polymer with said second transparent film having a top side and a bottom side; (b) disposing a second conducting material on said top side of said second support film; and (c) providing a second alignment material on said bottom side of said second conducting material;

(iii) preparing a sandwich structure of said first support film and said second support film with a suitable spacer in between and with said first alignment layer facing said second alignment layer; (iv) filling a suitable liquid crystal material in said spacer; and

(v) attaching a polarizer film on the outsides of said sandwich structure to prepare the liquid crystal cell, wherein said polymer of step (i)(a) and said polymer of step (ii)(a) may be the same or different, said first conducting material and said second conducting material may be the same or different, and said first alignment material and said alignment material may be the same or different.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising disposing a transparent cover layer on the top and bottom exterior surfaces of said liquid crystal cell, said display device being a transmissive display device.

33. The method of claim 31, for a reflective mode display further comprising (a) disposing a transparent cover layer on the top exterior surface of said liquid crystal cell and (b) disposing a mirror on the bottom exterior surface of said liquid crystal cell, said display device being a reflective display device.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein said polarizer is an integral part of said support layer.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein said polarizer is an integral part of said cover layer.