Abstract The anchoring properties of substrate with a grating surface are investigated analytically. The alignment of nematic liquid crystal (NLC) in a grating surface originates from two mechanisms, thus the anchoring energy consists of two parts. One originates from the interaction potential between NLC molecules and the molecules on the substrate surface, and the other stems from the increased elastic strain energy. Based on the two mechanisms, the expression of anchoring energy per unit area of a projected plane of this grating surface is deduced and called the equivalent anchoring energy formula. Both the strength and the easy direction of equivalent anchoring energy are a function of the geometrical parameters (amplitude and pitch) of a grating surface. By using this formula, the grating surface can be replaced by its projected plane and its anchoring properties can be described by the equivalent anchoring energy formula.
Received: 14 April 2006
Revised: 14 August 2006
Accepted manuscript online:
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