Discontinuous structural transition in a thin hybrid liquid crystal film

Cleaver, Douglas J.; Teixeira, Paulo Ivo Cortez

doi:10.1016/s0009-2614(01)00232-9

Cited by 41 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…1. (Color online) Schematic representation of the geometry used for the hard needle-wall (HNW) particle-substrate interaction [29]. per particle) were performed, averages and profiles being accumulated for the final 500 000 sweeps.…”

Section: Monte Carlo Model and Simulation Detailsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Independent control of polar and azimuthal anchoring

et al. 2013

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Monte Carlo simulation, experiment, and continuum theory are used to examine the anchoring exhibited by a nematic liquid crystal at a patterned substrate comprising a periodic array of rectangles that, respectively, promote vertical and planar alignment. It is shown that the easy axis and effective anchoring energy promoted by such surfaces can be readily controlled by adjusting the design of the pattern. The calculations reveal rich behavior: for strong anchoring, as exhibited by the simulated system, for rectangle ratios 2 the nematic aligns in the direction of the long edge of the rectangles, the azimuthal anchoring coefficient changing with pattern shape. In weak anchoring scenarios, however, including our experimental systems, preferential anchoring is degenerate between the two rectangle diagonals. Bistability between diagonally aligned and edge-aligned arrangement is predicted for intermediate combinations of anchoring coefficient and system length scale.

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Section: Monte Carlo Model and Simulation Detailsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Independent control of polar and azimuthal anchoring

et al. 2013

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“…These profiles are similar to those seen in ref. [11] for a system of particles interacting via the hard Gaussian overlap potential. Second, for chains with a shorter length there is a "locking in" of the liquid crystal with a dense monolayer on the surface.…”

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confidence: 99%

Computer simulation of liquid-crystal surface modification

Downton

Allen

2004

Europhys. Lett.

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Abstract. -Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations are used to study the interplay between two different anchoring effects of spherocylinders on a modified surface consisting of hard walls onto which liquid-crystal molecules have been perpendicularly grafted. By varying both the length and grafting density of the surface molecules, a number of different and novel anchoring regimes are observed including: planar, homeotropic, tilted and decoupled planar.Introduction. -Much of liquid-crystal science focuses on the anchoring properties of the liquid on solid substrates [1][2][3][4][5]. The interest comes both from the desire to generate anchorings and director profiles that are technologically useful, and from the complexity of the interactions that can be studied [6]. Many methods exist for changing the anchoring properties of a system [7]. In this paper, the focus is on modifying a surface that gives planar anchoring by grafting onto it short alkyl chains that promote homeotropic alignment, a system which has been studied experimentally [8]. We aim to investigate the interplay between competing anchoring behaviours of this kind by performing simulations of a highly simplified model system of rod-like hard particles.The paper is organised as follows. In the following section we present the computational details and molecular models that we use to simulate the liquid crystal and the modified surface. Simulation results are presented consisting of density, director, order parameter and biaxiality profiles for the modified systems. Finally, concluding remarks are given.

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“…A few simulation studies have considered systems of "hard" particles with contact distances given by Eqn. (1.1) ("hard Gaussian overlap particles") [20,21,22,23,24,25]. Much more commonly, however, the contact function (1.1) is used in conjunction with Lennard-Jones type interaction potentials, the Gay-Berne potential [26].…”

Section: Ellipsoidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, a growing number of simulations are devoted to the study of model nematics at surfaces [93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107]. and interfaces [108,109,110,111,112] or in thin films [24,25,113,114,115,116,117,118].…”

Section: Interfacial Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%