›› 2015, Vol. 24 ›› Issue (2): 26101-026101.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/24/2/026101

• CONDENSED MATTER: STRUCTURAL, MECHANICAL, AND THERMAL PROPERTIES • 上一篇    下一篇

Quartic coupling and its effect on wetting behaviors in nematic liquid crystals

曾明颖a b, Holger Merlitza, 吴晨旭a   

  1. a Department of Physics and ITPA, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China;
    b College of Information Science and Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, China
  • 收稿日期:2014-10-02 修回日期:2014-11-22 出版日期:2015-02-05 发布日期:2015-02-05
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11374243).

Quartic coupling and its effect on wetting behaviors in nematic liquid crystals

Zeng Ming-Ying (曾明颖)a b, Holger Merlitza, Wu Chen-Xu (吴晨旭)a   

  1. a Department of Physics and ITPA, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China;
    b College of Information Science and Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, China
  • Received:2014-10-02 Revised:2014-11-22 Online:2015-02-05 Published:2015-02-05
  • Contact: Wu Chen-Xu E-mail:cxwu@xmu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11374243).

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摘要： Based on the fact that rubbed groove patterns also affect the anchoring of liquid crystals at substrates, a quartic coupling is included in constructing the surface energy for a liquid crystal cell. The phase diagram and the wetting behaviors of the liquid crystal cell, bounded by surfactant-laden interfaces in a magnetic field perpendicular to the substrate are discussed by taking the quartic coupling into account. The nematic order increases at the surface while it decreases in the bulk as a result of the introduction of quartic substrate-liquid crystal coupling, indicating that the groove anchoring makes the liquid crystal molecules align more orderly near the substrate than away from it. This causes a different wetting behavior: complete wetting.

关键词: quartic coupling, surface anchoring energy, phase transition, wetting behavior

Abstract: Based on the fact that rubbed groove patterns also affect the anchoring of liquid crystals at substrates, a quartic coupling is included in constructing the surface energy for a liquid crystal cell. The phase diagram and the wetting behaviors of the liquid crystal cell, bounded by surfactant-laden interfaces in a magnetic field perpendicular to the substrate are discussed by taking the quartic coupling into account. The nematic order increases at the surface while it decreases in the bulk as a result of the introduction of quartic substrate-liquid crystal coupling, indicating that the groove anchoring makes the liquid crystal molecules align more orderly near the substrate than away from it. This causes a different wetting behavior: complete wetting.

Key words: quartic coupling, surface anchoring energy, phase transition, wetting behavior

中图分类号:  (Surface phenomena: alignment, anchoring, anchoring transitions, surface-induced layering, surface-induced ordering, wetting, prewetting transitions, and wetting transitions)

  • 61.30.Hn
61.30.Gd (Orientational order of liquid crystals; electric and magnetic field effects on order)