Surfaces and Interfaces of Liquid Crystals

The aim of this book is to describe the recent progress in our understanding of the surface and interface properties of the substrate-liquid crystal interface that play an essential role in the operation of liquid crystal displays (LCD`s) and other LC devices.

Up-to-date overview Accumulated knowledge of physicists and engineers on LCD

Klappentext

This overview of the state of the art of our understanding of the liquid crystal-surface interactions on a molecular level describes recent research into the surface and interface properties of the substrate-liquid crystal interface. These properties play an essential role in the operation of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and other LC devices, and every LC electro-optic device is based on the controllable anchoring of LC molecules on a (polymer coated) solid. The microscopic interaction between a macromolecule (liquid crystal, polymer) and a wall is still poorly understood. This book reports on the results of collaboration between several European Laboratories to study the liquid crystal interfaces with novel, surface and interface-sensitive experimental techniques, such as Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM), Linear and Nonlinear Optical Microscopy and (Dynamic) Light Scattering (DLS). These experimental techniques were complemented with computer simulations and supra molecular chemistry methods to develop controllable polymeric surfaces.

Inhalt
Prologue.- 1 Introduction.- 2 Surface-Induced Order Detected by Deuteron Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.- 3 Interfacial and Surface Forces in Nematics and Smectics.- 4 Linear Optics of Liquid Crystal Interfaces.- 5 Solid-Liquid Crystal Interfaces Probed by Optical Second-Harmonic Generation.- 6 Liquid Crystal Alignment on Surfaces with Orientational Molecular Order: A Microscopic Model Derived from Soft X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy.- 7 Scanning Probe Microscopy Studies of Liquid Crystal Interfaces.- 8 Introduction to Micro- and Macroscopic Descriptions of Nematic Liquid Crystalline Films: Structural and Fluctuation Forces.- 9 Applications.- Epilogue.