Anchoring behaviors of nematic liquid crystal confined by polymer-coated substrates

Abstract

We study the anchoring behaviors of the nematic liquid crystal confined by polymer-coated substrates by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The liquid crystal molecules are described by Gay-Berne particles and the polymers are given by Kremer-Grest model. We found that the anchoring strength between the bulk liquid crystal director and the polymer-coated substrates changes non-monotonically with the interaction between the polymer chains and liquid crystal. The weak anchoring conditions are realized when the interaction is sufficiently weak or strong.