Control of Pretilt Angles of Liquid Crystal Molecules in a Liquid Crystal Cell Using a Chemically Adsorbed Monolayer as an Alignment Film

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Abstract
Using chemically adsorbed monolayers with two surfactants as an alignment film for a liquid crystal cell, liquid crystal cells were structured. The monolayers showed a fair degree of alignment effects without rubbing. By changing the composition ratio of the mixture of the surfactants having a long hydrocarbon chain and a short hydrocarbon chain, the pretilt angles of the liquid crystal molecules could be controlled. The molecular density or the molecular arrangements in the chemically adsorbed monolayers may strongly affect the pretilt angles. To interpret the experimental results, possible model structures in the monolayer were proposed.