A photo-induced alignment technique using polyimide and azo-dye dopant was described. The new azo-dye material named SY04,which contained two azo groups,was studied. The photo-induced alignment mechanism was investigated by analyzing the polarized absorption spectra. In order to improve the stability of the photo-aligned film,a sort of polyimide material was mixed. The new azo-dye dopant aligning layer produced a high qualitative surface alignment,which resulted in fast response performance and good electro-optical performance. This alignment material provided good thermo-stability and was stable under weak UV irradiation as well.