A nematic liquid crystal was injected into a liquid crystal cell consisting of a glass substrate coated with a thin film of liquid crystalline azobenzene polymer and a hydrophobic glass substrate. By transmitting X-rays in the in-plane direction of the cell, the interface structure between the nematic liquid crystal and the liquid crystalline azobenzene polymer was analyzed. As a result, a higher-order liquid crystal phase was induced on the surface of the polymer thin film, which cannot be formed by each liquid crystal alone. Experiments revealed that this induced liquid crystalline phase is due to the charge transfer between azobenzene and nematic liquid crystal.
