Azimuthal anchoring of a nematic liquid crystal on a grooved interface with anisotropic polar anchoring

Zhang Y J et al. Zhang Y J, Zhang Z D, Zhu L Z and Xuan L 2011 Liquid Cryst. 38 355 investigated the effects of finite polar anchoring on the azimuthal anchoring energy at a grooved interface, in which polar anchoring was isotropic in the local tangent plane of the surface. In this paper, we investigate the effects of both isotropic and anisotropic polar anchoring on the surface anchoring energy in the frame of Fukuda et al.'s theory. The results show that anisotropic polar anchoring strengthens the azimuthal anchoring of grooved surfaces. In the one-elastic-constant approximation (K₁₁ = K₂₂ = K₃₃ = K), the surface-groove-induced azimuthal anchoring energy is entirely consistent with the result of Faetti, and it reduces to the original result of Berreman with an increase in polar anchoring. Moreover, the contribution of the surface-like elastic term to the Rapini-Papoular anchoring energy is zero.