Abstract
Using electro- and magneto-optical techniques, we investigated orientational transitions in the ensembles of domains in a nematic liquid crystal on the polycarbonate film surface under the conditions of competing surface forces that favor radial and uniform planar alignment of nematic molecules. Having analyzed field dependences of the intensity of light passed through a sample, we established the threshold character of the orientational effects, plotted the calculated intensity versus magnetic coherence length, and compared the latter with the equilibrium length that characterizes the balance of forces on the polymer surface.
Highlights
Liquid crystal (LC) layers with the ordered structure are widely used in both fundamental research in the field of physics of condensed matter and fabrication of electronic devices [1]
The orientational transitions of the 5CB nematic in domain structures grown on the polycarbonate surface were investigated
The LC layers with the structures formed in a magnetic field applied parallel to the PC surface during the domain growth were studied
Summary
Liquid crystal (LC) layers with the ordered structure are widely used in both fundamental research in the field of physics of condensed matter and fabrication of electronic devices [1]. Of special interest are the structures with the competing aligning effects of surfaces that bound an LC. The competing effects can be spatially separated, as at the local Freedericksz transition [2] in LC layers when the short-range forces induced by the surface tend to align the LC director parallel or perpendicular to it. 2014, 15 and the long-range dispersion forces of anchoring, orthogonally to this direction. Varying the surface shaping conditions for LC aligning by, e.g., sputtering of SiO layers, one can obtain the competing effect of the short-range forces that favor
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