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Full-Text Articles in Physics
Material-Independent Determination Of Anchoring Properties On Rubbed Polyimide Surfaces, Bharat R. Acharya, Jae-Hoon Kim, Satyendra Kumar
Material-Independent Determination Of Anchoring Properties On Rubbed Polyimide Surfaces, Bharat R. Acharya, Jae-Hoon Kim, Satyendra Kumar
Satyendra Kumar
A material-independent method for determining liquid-crystal (LC) anchoring energy on rubbed polyimide (PI) surfaces has been devised. This method exploits the changes in the easy axis of rubbed PI film induced by exposure to linearly polarized UV (LPUV) Light. The distribution of PI chains in a rubbed film is approximated by a Gaussian function and its width determined from the measured rotation of the LC easy axis as a function of exposure time. A quasimicroscopic free energy of the LC-substrate interface is used to model LC anchoring properties. The experimental and calculated values of the azimuthal anchoring energy are in …
Finite Molecular Anchoring In The Escaped-Radial Nematic Configuration: A 2-H-Nmr Study, G. P. Crawford, David W. Allender, J. William Doane, M. Vilfan, I. Vilfan
Finite Molecular Anchoring In The Escaped-Radial Nematic Configuration: A 2-H-Nmr Study, G. P. Crawford, David W. Allender, J. William Doane, M. Vilfan, I. Vilfan
David W Allender
The director-field configuration of a nematic liquid crystal confined to cylindrical cavities of polycarbonate Nuclepore membranes ranging from 0.3 to 0.05-mu-m in radius is determined using deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance (H-2 NMR). Spectral patterns from cavities of radius 0.3-mu-m reveal the escaped-radial configuration with singular point defects, but as the cylinder size is decreased, the elastic energy imposed by the curvature of the confining walls competes with the anchoring energy to tilt the directors away from their preferred perpendicular anchoring direction, preventing the expected transition to the planar-radial configuration. A surface fitting parameter is directly determined by simulating H-2-NMR line …
Relaxation Dynamics Of Rubbed Polystyrene Thin Films, D. M. G. Agra, A. D. Schwab, J-H. Kim, Satyendra Kumar, A. Dhinojwala
Relaxation Dynamics Of Rubbed Polystyrene Thin Films, D. M. G. Agra, A. D. Schwab, J-H. Kim, Satyendra Kumar, A. Dhinojwala
Satyendra Kumar
Optical retardation measurements were used to probe the chain relaxation dynamics in rubbed polystyrene films of varying thicknesses on glass substrates. A model based on Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts relaxation was developed and used to determine the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the films. Results showed reductions of 15–20 K in Tg for thin films of thicknesses comparable to the radius of gyration as well as for cast films rubbed with different strengths. These results provide evidence of a faster relaxation dynamics relative to the polymer-substrate interface for thinner films and enhanced chain mobility at the polymer-air interface.
Biaxiality In A Cyclic Thermotropic Nematic Liquid-Crystal, Jian-Feng Li, V. Percec, Ch. Rosenblatt, Oleg Lavrentovich
Biaxiality In A Cyclic Thermotropic Nematic Liquid-Crystal, Jian-Feng Li, V. Percec, Ch. Rosenblatt, Oleg Lavrentovich
Oleg Lavrentovich
Birefringence and textural data are presented for a ring-shaped trimeric liquid crystal. The material apparently undergoes a uniaxial-to-biaxial nematic phase transition as a function of temperature.