Abstract
Abstract In the present paper a thin nematic liquid crystal layer between two identical boundary surfaces (solid walls or free surfaces in the case of a freely suspended film) is considered. In a mean field approximation it is shown that the interference between the boundary surface-induced smectic density waves results in oscillations of the free energy of the nematic layer and disjoining pressure acting on the boundary surfaces. Theoretical dependence of disjoining pressure on the nematic layer thickness is in qualitative agreement with experiment. Also we have considered a thin film of polar nematic in which in addition to an ordinary monolayer smectic A phase (SA1) with the layer thickness d equal to the molecular length l the partial bilayer smectic A phase (SAd) occurs. It is shown that the variation of the distance between the boundary surfaces can result in the oscillatory SA1-AAd phase transitions in this nematic film
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