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Azimuthal Dependence Of Switching Field Strength For Nematic Liquid Crystal Bistability On Patterned Alignment Layers, Jun-Ichi Niitsuma, Makoto Yoneya, Hiroshi Yokoyama
Azimuthal Dependence Of Switching Field Strength For Nematic Liquid Crystal Bistability On Patterned Alignment Layers, Jun-Ichi Niitsuma, Makoto Yoneya, Hiroshi Yokoyama
Hiroshi Yokoyama
We investigate the azimuthal dependence of the switching field strength for nematic liquid crystal bistability on patterned alignment layers to determine the validity of a switching theory proposed by Kim et al. [Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 3055 (2001)] and to evaluate higher-order azimuthal anchoring coefficients. Director behavior during switching is described in detail for general azimuthal directions of an applied electric field and the experimental results are explained on the basis of the theory. We obtain azimuthal anchoring coefficients up to the second higher-order term in an expansion of the anchoring energy function. Detailed analysis of the director behavior reveals …