抄録
Recently, we reported "discontinuous anchoring transition" in liquid crystal cells using a specific combination of LC- and surface-coating materials, that is, nematic liquid crystal (CCN-47) and perfluoropolymer (CYTOP, Asahi Glass Co.). This phenomenon observed as an abrupt director change between homeotropic and planar states by cooling or heating, was investigated by means of high-resolution differential scanning calorimetry and grazing-incidence x-ray diffraction, as well as careful polarization microscopy. These experiments revealed; (1) different molecular orientations, homeotropic and planar at the surfaces, have different thermodynamic free energies; (2) the discontinuous anchoring transition occurs through the formation of quasismectic layers parallel to surfaces in the nematic phase.
