Abstract
In this paper, the liquid crystal (LC) order parameters of the interface layers at rubbed polymer surfaces were studied. The LC films in this study were made with either polyvinyl alcohol or polyimide and the test LCs were filled into wedge-shaped cells for various measurements. The real distribution of order parameters from LC bulk to the interface was obtained by measuring the anisotropic infrared absorbance of sample films. It was found that the order parameters start to decrease where the LC layer thickness is smaller than 10nm, and the order parameter of LC monolayer at the rubbed polymer surface is only 1∕3–1∕2 of that of the LC bulk even in a strong rubbing condition. When the temperature was increased to the transition point, the LC interface layer (excluding the adsorption monolayer) completed the phase transition while the bulk layer remained in LC phase. This was a further evidence that the order parameter of the interface layer is lower than that of the bulk.
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