In-situ viscoelasticity measurement in the formation of vapor-deposited thin liquid crystal films

Abstract

An interface between liquid crystal (LC) and a substrate plays an important role in the characteristics of LC devices. We have investigated the viscoelastic property of LC at the interface using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), and have reported that LC forms an “interfacial elastic layer” where LC exhibits solid-like characteristics. In this work, viscoelastic evolution in thin liquid crystal films during vacuum deposition and re-evaporation was investigated using a QCM.