Artículo
Pattern-induced anchoring transitions in nematic liquid crystals
Autor/es | Rojas Gómez, Oscar A.
Romero Enrique, José Manuel Silvestre, Nuno M. Telo Da Gama, Margarida Maria |
Departamento | Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Física Atómica, Molecular y Nuclear |
Fecha de publicación | 2016 |
Fecha de depósito | 2017-01-17 |
Publicado en |
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Resumen | In this paper we revisit the problem of a nematic liquid crystal in contact
with patterned substrates. The substrate is modelled as a periodic array of parallel
infinite grooves of well-defined cross section sculpted on ... In this paper we revisit the problem of a nematic liquid crystal in contact with patterned substrates. The substrate is modelled as a periodic array of parallel infinite grooves of well-defined cross section sculpted on a chemically homogeneous substrate which favors local homeotropic anchoring of the nematic. We consider three cases: a sawtooth, a crenellated and a sinusoidal substrate. We analyse this problem within the modified Frank-Oseen formalism. We argue that, for substrate periodicities much larger than the extrapolation length, the existence of different nematic textures with distinct far-field orientations, as well as the anchoring transitions between them, are associated with the presence of topological defects either on or close to the substrate. For the sawtooth and sinusoidal case, we observe a homeotropic to planar anchoring transition as the substrate roughness is increased. On the other hand, a homeotropic to oblique anchoring transition is observed for crenellated substrates. In this case, the anchoring phase diagram shows a complex dependence on the substrate roughness and substrate anchoring strength. |
Cita | Rojas Gómez, O.A., Romero Enrique, J.M., Silvestre, N.M. y Telo Da Gama, M.M. (2016). Pattern-induced anchoring transitions in nematic liquid crystals. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 29, 1-14. |
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