ANCHORING STRENGTH COEFFICIENT OF A MONOMER AND ITS DIMER AT A POLYMER-COATED INTERFACE

The dialkoxyphenylbenzoate monomer '5005' (C5H11OC6H4COOC6H4OC5H11) and its dimer were aligned parallel to a buffed polyimide-coated glass substrate. A magnetically induced Freedericksz transition in both thick and thin cells was used in conjunction with a capacitance technique to determine the anchoring strength coefficient W as a function of temperature in the nematic phase. It was found that for both monomer and dimer, W increases with decreasing temperature. The anchoring coefficient for the dimer, however, was found to be an order of magnitude larger than for the monomer at comparable reduced temperatures. The splay elastic moduli were also determined for both species, and found to be of comparable magnitude, consistent with previous results.