Photoinduced Optical Anisotropy in Langmuir Blodgett Films as a New Method of Creating Bistable Anchoring Surfaces for Liquid Crystal Orientation

1 January 1995

journal article
Published by EDP Sciences in Journal de Physique II

Vol. 5 (1) , 133-142
https://doi.org/10.1051/jp2:1995118

Abstract

We report a new method to prepare surfaces that creates two degenerate states for liquid crystal orientation. The method uses Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films exhibiting the effect of photoinduced optical anisotropy. We illuminate LB films twice with polarized light of perpendicular orientations to produce a special shape for the molecular distribution function in a LB film. Nematic liquid crystal molecules (NLC) aligned by these films can show two stable orientations, i.e. surface induced bistability. The results observed are interpreted in terms of a micro domain distribution in LB film. The origin of the bistability is “extrinsic”

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