Liquid Gold

The following sections are included:

• About the Author

• Preface

• Contents

The history of liquid crystals began more than 100 years ago in 1888 when liquid crystallinity, also called by the technical term "mesomorphism," was first observed and characterized by Austrian botanist Friedrich Reinitzer¹ in Germany. Reinitzer (1857–1927) observed an unusual melting characteristic in cholesteryl benzoate — although the crystal melted at 145°C, the melt was opaque instead of clear as a normal or "isotropic" liquid. As he continued to heat the material further, the opacity disappeared sharply at 178°C. Thus, it was apparent to Reinitzer that within this 33-degree range, a unique state of matter existed. His discovery of an intermediate state between a crystalline solid and a normal liquid flew in the face of the centuries' old concept that matter existed in only three states: solid, liquid, and gaseous. In 21st century parlance, this would be considered a "disruptive technology," so Reinitzer's observations were most likely viewed with some skepticism by his peers until the work was duplicated, most notably by Otto Lehmann in 1890.² It was Lehmann who coined the term "Flüssige Krystalle," which translates to fluid crystal or liquid crystal. According to Gray,³ Reinitzer and Lehmann both laid claim to the discovery of the new phase of matter in papers published in 1908. Apparently, there was some animosity between the two scientists as a result of these exchanges. However, Reinitzer is generally considered to be the first to observe the phenomenon…

The idea of building a television set with a thin, flat display was a dream that David Sarnoff, Chairman of the Hoard of RCA, had for many years. In fact, he had a conventional television set installed within the wall of his office at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City with the screen flush with the wall to show how a wall-mounted television might appear. I saw this when I was privileged to tour the corporate offices in 1969. The above quotation was taken from a speech he gave on September 30, 1956, at a dinner celebrating the 50th anniversary of his tenure at RCA.^1a He was actually referring to electroluminescence, which at that time was believed to be the technology that would emerge to accomplish his objective. In the mid-1960s, there were a number of technologies that were being investigated at RCA Laboratories to create a flat panel television display, and electroluminescence was one of them. Researchers were also looking at light emitting diodes, various cathodoluminescent concepts (flat, thin cathode ray tube-like devices), and liquid crystals…

The most important reason for attending international conferences is the exchange of ideas, as so aptly expressed above by La Forge. Less than four months from the time I began working on liquid crystal research, I was privileged to be invited by George Heilmeier to join him, Joel Goldmcher and Richard Williams to attend the First International Liquid Crystal Conference, which was being organized by Glenn Brown of Kent State University. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn more about what other scientists were doing in this fascinating field and to meet George Gray, Glenn Brown and the other top scientists from around the world. Also, I was about to submit my first paper on liquid crystals to the Journal of Organic Chemistry, and I was hoping to have it previewed by George Gray, whom I respected as the leading research chemist in the field at that time. In addition, Heilmeier invited George Gray to come to RCA Laboratories and provide one day of consulting following the conference, so I was confident that I could get his advice…

During the years from 1965 through 1967, research on liquid crystal displays at RCA greatly intensified as it became apparent that this new technology could be useful in many applications in addition to flat panel television, so the company decided that the developments being made should be kept secret. Thus, it was not possible for us to publish the exciting results of experiments that were being carried out during those years. It is important to emphasize that this was not simply some casual experiments to examine a laboratory curiosity, but instead represented a concerted effort to research all aspects of what was believed to be a new display technology that might lie practical for manufacturing a flat panel television and other consumer or industrial products. This work was carried out by some of RCA's top scientists and engineers; it was perhaps the largest group working in the liquid crystal field at the time. This research covered a wide spectrum of technical disciplines including: liquid crystal material development and purification; device fabrication and testing; life testing; mechanistic studies; electrical addressing schemes; diode and thin-film transistor development; product prototype construction; and projection development. Some of these developments were previously discussed in Chapter 2, but other interesting materials, processes and electro-optic effects were also discovered that opened new fields for further research, eventually leading to the development of products that were commercialized many years later…

Sometime in the early spring of 1968, RCA management decided that it was time to reveal the results of its liquid crystal research to the general public. By this time it was clear that building a television set with devices based on these materials would not be forthcoming for many years and, in any case, RCA believed that it had a big lead in the development of the technology. Since RCA's legal staff was processing many patent applications, the company felt safe in "going public" with its developments…

The following sections are included:

• THE SEARCH FOR NEW PRODUCTS

• SPREADING THE WORD

• A NEW BREAKTHROUGH — THE TWISTED-NEMATIC EFFECT

• CONCLUSIONS AND OPINIONS

• REFERENCES

A major objective of nearly all Japanese electronics companies starting in the 1950s was to penetrate the U.S. market with new products. This was exemplified by Sony's decision to build the transistor radio as stated by Morita in a 1971 Time interview…

The following sections are included:

• THE OPTEL STORY

• OTHER RCA SPIN-OFFS

• TEXAS INSTRUMENTS AND ITS SPIN-OFFS

• START-UP FEVER MOVES TO THE MIDWEST

• SILICON VALLEY DISCOVERS LCDs

• CONCLUSIONS AND OPINIONS

• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• FAIRCHILD SEMICONDUCTOR FINDS LCDs

• ANOTHER NEW VENTURE

• MOVING IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION

• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• NEW MATERIALS EMERGE

• THE SHIFT TOWARD POLYMER SEALING

• THE DIGITAL WATCH INDUSTRY EVOLVES

• HONG KONG MANUFACTURING EXPANDS

• MORE AMERICAN COMPANIES ENTER THE BUSINESS

• EXIT THE AMERICAN SEMICONDUCTOR FIRMS

• EUROPEAN INNOVATIONS

• KOREA BEGINS DEVELOPMENT

• MOVING BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN

• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• THE FIRST LIQUID CRYSTAL CONFERENCE IN JAPAN

• MOVING TO MARKET RESEARCH

• GROWTH OF THE LCD INDUSTRY IN THE 1980s

• COMPETING DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY SCRUTINIZED

• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• A THIN FILM OF TRANSISTORS

• THE SHIFT TO SILICON

• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• PORTABLE COLOR LCD TELEVISION DEBUTS

• THE SHIFT TO MIM DIODES FOR LCD PORTABLES

• THE DRIVE TOWARD LARGER SCREENS INTENSIFIES

• HANG-ON-THE-WALL LCD TELEVISION APPROACHES REALITY

• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• THE PORTABLE PC OPENS THE WAY FOR LCDs

• LAPTOP COMPUTERS PROLIFERATE

• ENTER THE "SUPERTWISTED-NEMATIC" LCD AND THE NOTEBOOK

• ACTIVE MATRIX LCDs APPEAR

• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• COMPUTER APPLICATIONS ABOUND

• WAll-MOUNTED LCD TELEVISION FINALLY REALIZED

• THE CELLULAR TELEPHONE EXPLOSION

• THE AGE OF CONSORTIA

• INDUSTRY CONSOLIDATIONS

• MANUFACTURING SHIFTS TO SOUTHEAST ASIA

• SUPPLEMENTARY LCD TECHNOLOGIES APPEAR

• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• PLASMA DISPLAY PANELS

• ORGANIC LIGHT EMITTING DIODES

• ELECTROLUMINESCENT DISPLAYS

• FIELD EMISSION DISPLAYS

• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• CREATION AND GROWTH OF A NEW INDUSTRY

• THE IMPACT OF HIGH-DEFINITION TELEVISION

• THE GROWTH OF LCD TELEVISION MANUFACTURING

• PROBING THE FUTURE

• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• Epilogue

• Acknowledgments

• Appendix I Program of the First International Liquid Crystal Conference — August 1965

• Appendix II A Chronology of LCD Developments

• Index