Abstract
A layer of short, grafted, main chain liquid crystalline polymers in a nematic solvent is confined to a slit. The polymers are modeled as bendable rods. This system can undergo a number of distortional transitions induced either by applied pressure or by an electric field. As well as Frederiks-like transitions the system can also exhibit columnar transitions in which the distorted domains are separated by undistorted regions. The coupling between the rods and nematic solvent implies that the system has an effective modulus due to both contributions. A combination of pressure and electric fields allows for the lowering of the Frederiks transition voltage to arbitrarily low values.
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