Statics and dynamics of wetting: Its contribution to the anchoring of nematics

Abstract
The anchoring of nematics on solid substrates depends both on the nature of the substrate and on the wetting conditions. The second point can be shown by wetting a substrate with nematic droplets. We present the results of wetting experiments on SiO films evaporated under oblique incidence and polymer films rubbed in two orthogonal directions. These two kinds of substrates which have respectively C s and C 40 symmetry, induce bistable anchorings. These results are compared with the predictions of a model of anchoring selection developed previously