Anchoring and orientational wetting of nematic liquid crystals on self-assembled monolayer substrates: An evanescent wave ellipsometric study

被引:47
作者
Alkhairalla, B [1 ]
Allinson, H [1 ]
Boden, N [1 ]
Evans, SD [1 ]
Henderson, JR [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Leeds, Ctr Self Organising Mol Syst, Leeds LS2 9JT, W Yorkshire, England
来源
PHYSICAL REVIEW E | 1999年 / 59卷 / 03期
关键词
D O I
10.1103/PhysRevE.59.3033
中图分类号
O35 [流体力学]; O53 [等离子体物理学];
学科分类号
070204 ; 080103 ; 080704 ;
摘要
An evanescent wave ellipsometric technique is used to study the orientational wetting of 4',4-alkylcyanobiphenyls (nCB,n = 5-9) at the interface with a series of self-assembled monolayers. Brewster angle measurements are interpreted in terms of a global orientational wetting phase diagram (T,n,h(1)), where T denotes temperature, n is the alkyl chain length, and h(1) is the cosine of the contact angle of water with the monolayer. At temperatures below the isotropic-nematic phase transition temperature T-IN, an anchoring transition from planar to homeotropic alignment occurs as the surface of the monolayer is made more hydrophobic. Homeotropic anchoring of the nematic director at T < T-IN is associated with complete orientational wetting on approaching the isotropic-nematic phase boundary from temperatures above T-IN. The anchoring-wetting transition shifts to less hydrophobic surfaces as n increases. [S1063-651X(99)12002-6].
引用
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页码:3033 / 3039
页数:7
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