The anchoring of the nematic liquid crystal N-(p-methoxybenzylidene)-p-butylaniline (MBBA) on Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers of fatty acids (COOHC(n)H(2n+1)) was studied as a function of the length of the fatty acid alkyl chain n (n=15,17,19,21). The monolayers were deposited onto glass plates coated with indium tin oxide, which were used to assemble sandwich cells of various thicknesses that were filled with MBBA in the nematic phase. The mechanism of relaxation from the flow-induced quasiplanar to the surface-induced homeotropic alignment was studied for the four aligning monolayers. It was found that the speed of the relaxation decreases linearly with increasing length of the alkyl chain n, which suggests that the Langmuir-Blodgett film plays a role in the phenomenon. This fact was confirmed by a sensitive estimation of the anchoring strength of MBBA on the fatty acid monolayers after anchoring breaking, which takes place at the transition between two electric-field-induced turbulent states, denoted as DSM1 and DSM2 (where DSM indicates dynamic scattering mode). It was found that the threshold electric field for the anchoring breaking, which can be considered as a measure of the anchoring strength, also decreases linearly as n increases. Both methods thus possess a high sensitivity in resolving small differences in anchoring strength. In cells coated with mixed Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers of two fatty acids (n=15 and n=17) a maximum of the relaxation speed was observed when the two acids were present in equal amounts. This observation suggests an efficient method for controlling the anchoring strength in homeotropic cells by changing the ratio between the components of the surfactant film.

We report on the alignment transition of a nematic liquid crystal from initially homeotropic to quasi-planar due to field-induced anchoring breaking. The initial homeotropic alignment is achieved by Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers. In this geometry the anchoring strength can be evaluated by the Frederiks transition technique. Applying an electric field above a certain threshold provokes turbulent states denoted DSM1 and DSM2. While DSM1 does not affect the anchoring, DSM2 breaks the coupling between the surface and the liquid crystal: switching off the field from a DSM2 state does not immediately restore the homeotropic alignment. Instead, we obtain a quasi-planar metastable alignment. The cell thickness dependence for the transition is related to the cell thickness dependence of the anchoring strength. *

Mono-layers of stearic and behenic acids and mixtures of them in different proportions, deposited with the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique, were used to study the alignment and the alignment dynamics in nematic liquid crystal cells. A relaxation process from a splay-bend flow induced metastable orientation to the homeotropic one occurs. The lifetime of the metastable state was found to depend on the mono-layer composition. The transition between the homeotropic and the conical anchoring was found to be irreversible in the case of the mixed aligning mono-layers: on cooling from the isotropic phase a quasi-planar nematic state (schlieren texture) appears. It is stable in a range of a few degrees below the clearing point and, on decreasing the temperature, relaxes to the homeotropic state in form of expanding domains.

A binary mixture of ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) was used for the design of a channel waveguide. The FLCs possess two important functionalities: a chromophore with a high hyperpolarizability β and photoreactive groups. The smectic liquid crystal is aligned in layers parallel to the glass plates in a sandwich geometry. This alignment offers several advantages, such as that moderate electric fields are sufficient to achieve a high degree of polar order. The arrangement was then permanently fixed by photopolymerization which yielded a polar network possessing a high thermal and mechanical stability which did not show any sign of degradation within the monitored period of several months. The linear and nonlinear optical properties have been measured and all four independent components of the nonlinear susceptibility tensor d have been determined. The off-resonant d-coefficients are remarkably high and comparable to those of the best known inorganic materials. The alignment led to an inherent channel waveguide for p-polarized light without additional preparation steps. The photopolymerization did not induce scattering sites in the waveguide and the normalized losses were less than 2 dB/cm. The material offers a great potential for the design of nonlinear optical devices such as frequency doublers of low-power laser diodes.PACS. 61.30.Gd Orientational order of liquid crystals; electric and magnetic field effects on order -42.65.

Mono-layers of stearic and behenic acids and mixtures of them in different proportions, deposited with the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique, were used to study the alignment and the alignment dynamics in nematic liquid crystal cells. A relaxation process from a splay-bend flow induced metastable orientation to the homeotropic one occurs. The lifetime of the metastable state was found to depend on the mono-layer composition. The transition between the homeotropic and the conical anchoring was found to be irreversible in the case of the mixed aligning mono-layers: on cooling from the isotropic phase a quasi-planar nematic state (schlieren texture) appears. It is stable in a range of a few degrees below the clearing point and, on decreasing the temperature, relaxes to the homeotropic state in form of expanding domains.