The orientational order of liquid crystals (LCs) induced by periodic patterned substrates has been investigated with cells coated by azopolymer films that could be photoaligned in a controlled way. Two regimes were observed depending on the period of the patterns: (i) above $3.0\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{m}$ the LC follows the direction imposed by the patterned substrate since the energy stored in the surface potential minimizes the elastic energy of the LC medium. (ii) For periods smaller than $1.0\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{m}$ a homogeneous in-plane state was induced and the LC did not follow the orientation imposed by the surface. This in-plane transition could be explained qualitatively by a theoretical model based on the competition between the Frank-Oseen elastic energy and the phenomenological surface potential. The results also suggest an out-of-plane transition for the LC director as the period was reduced. These results agree with data in the literature for patterned substrates with completely distinct architectures. This indicates that for a particular LC sample the overall behavior depends basically on the texture period instead of the texture architecture. The textures were characterized with a scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM), which allowed simultaneous morphological and optical images in the submicrometer range.

• Received 16 March 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.74.021714