Formation of restricted layer of liquid crystal on polymer sublayer

Abstract

It has been reported that an “interfacial elastic layer” of liquid crystalline (LC) molecules was formed on a polymer sublayer. Within this layer a thin “restricted layer” was found to remain the polymer sublayer after evaporation of the LC in vacuum. In this study, we investigate the effects of substrate temperature on the thickness of the “restricted layer” on polymer sublayers for homogeneous orientation by using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). The results show that a diffusion of LC into polymer sublayer plays an essential role in the orientation of LCs. Moreover the diffusion can be suppressed by the rubbing of the polymer surface.