Anchoring of nematic liquid crystals on a thin polymeric film

A. L. Alexe-Ionescu, G. Barbero, and L. Komitov

Phys. Rev. E 77, 051701 – Published 15 May 2008

Abstract

We analyze the influence of a thin polymer layer with lateral side groups on the anchoring of a nematic liquid crystal. We show that the effective anisotropic part of the anchoring energy depends on the coupling of the nematic with the polymer side groups, as well as on the coupling of the polymer side groups with the surface. The relaxation time for the nematic orientation induced by an external field is evaluated by considering the surface dissipation connected to the relative motion of the nematic director with respect to the polymer side groups.

Received 23 February 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.77.051701

Authors & Affiliations

A. L. Alexe-Ionescu^1,2, G. Barbero^3,*, and L. Komitov^2,†

¹Faculty of Applied Sciences, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei 313, Ro-060042 Romania
²Liquid Crystal Physics, Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, SE-412 96, Gothenburg, Sweden
³Dipartimento di Fisica del Politecnico, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, I-10129 Torino, Italy

^*Present address: University of Gothenburg, SE-412 96, Gothenburg, Sweden.
^†Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

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Issue

Vol. 77, Iss. 5 — May 2008

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