The effects of pre-tilt angle on the stability of C1 and C2 in rubbed polymer aligned FLC cells

Abstract

Observations of a boundary layer structure near the surfaces of FLC devices, where the director reorients to the nematic alignment direction, are inconsistent with previous models of the chevron structure, where the the surface director lies at the intersection of the smetic cone with a horizontal (or tilted) plane. Two models of the surface alignment are presented: (i) strong surface anchoring where the smectic layers must bend and (ii) fixed layering where the position of the director at the surface is determined by finite surface is determined by finite surface anchorin. The corresponding director profiles and energies are claculted using models for a range of pre-tilt angles for C1 and C2 states.