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What aligns liquid crystals on solid substrates? The role of surface roughness anisotropy

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Abstract

The mechanism responsible for liquid crystal (LC) alignment on mechanically buffed or UV exposed polymer films is poorly understood. A comprehensive study of LC alignment on variously prepared substrates unequivocally shows that the anisotropy in the surface roughness of the substrate completely determines the direction of LC alignment. In all the cases studied, including those where an anchoring transition occurs with temperature, the LC director (re)aligns in the directions of low roughness.

Original languageEnglish
Article number077803
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume94
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 25 2005

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