Abstract
We propose the novel alignment methods for the nematic liquid crystal cells coated by low glass transition polymers without the rubbing. We aligned liquid crystals by applying a magnetic field parallel to the substrates in the higher temperature, where the polymers are melted into the liquid state, but liquid crystals still keep the nematic state. Then, after cooling the cell below the glass transition temperature of the polymers, we found that the alignment direction was fixed and homogeneously aligned nematic liquid crystal was obtained automatically. Comparing self-alignment nematic liquid crystals with the conventional rubbing method, we found that the anchoring strength of PMMA thin films was completely independent of aligning process. This result evidently concludes that physical mechanisms of "alignment" and "anchoring" of liquid crystals on the polymer surface are intrinsically distinguished from each other.
