Monte Carlo simulations of intrinsic anchoring in nematic liquid crystals based on spatially anisotropic pair potential

Abstract

The free surfaces of nematic liquid crystals are studied based upon the molecular pair potential model, which is spatially anisotropic and dependent on elastic constants of liquid crystals. The study is based on the simple cubic lattice model with the aid of Monte Carlo simulation. An elastic deformation is imposed, forming a hybrid cell-like nematic sample so that the anchoring at free nematic interfaces (intrinsic anchoring) is well studied. It is found that the preferred orientation at the free interface and the corresponding extrapolation length change with the modification of potential parameters, but are not dependent on temperature.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province, China (Grant No. 103002), and the Key Subject Construction Project of Hebei Provincial University.